'Fortress Britannia' was breached for the first time in 2009 after the Potters slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Europa League hopefuls West Ham United.

A tight encounter was won for the visitors by Diego Tristan's 25-yard free kick in the first half, and while City threatened to take at least a point from the game, United's backline stood firm to inflict a first loss in the Potteries for Tony Pulis' side since Boxing Day.

Ahead of the game the City boss made two changes to the side that suffered a 1-0 defeat at Fulham last Saturday. He was able to recall James Beattie and Andy Wilkinson after injury to replace Richard Cresswell and Stephen Kelly, who both dropped to the bench at the expense of Leon Cort and Carl Dickinson.

For the visitors, the only change was Radoslav Kovac in place of the injured Kieron Dyer. Carlton Cole was absent through injury, but scorer of the winning goal in the return fixture back in December Tristan started up front alongside on loan Torino striker David Di Michele.

The hosts started brightly and warmed Robert Green's hands within the first three minutes, when he was first out to gather Liam Lawrence's free kick.

The Potters were putting the away side under pressure again inside ten minutes. Matthew Etherington, who was playing against his former side, swung over a cross that just evaded the head of Ricardo Fuller, with the ball being flicked away for a throw in. Rory Delap slung in one of his trademark missiles but Ryan Shawcross' flick at goal was well held by Green.

A minute later City were awarded another throw despite Beattie appearing to be fouled. Fuller rose and won the ball against Green, and stuck it home with his knee, however, despite no complaints from the visitors defence referee Peter Walton ruled the goal out for an adjudged obstruction on the United stopper.

Unbelievably, the Hammers had the ball in the net at the other end a minute later, but to the delight of the home supporters, Di Michele was adjudged to have controlled the ball with his arm before slotting past the stranded Thomas Sorensen.

It was a frantic end-to-end start, with Delap reaching a Lawrence cross inside the opening quarter on an hour, but once again Green was alert to the danger. Boa Morte then fired straight at Sorensen at the other end.

Shawcross had another header from a Delap throw after 18 minutes, but this time he directed it high and wide. It was Abdoulaye Faye's turn next, but he headed over from Lawrence's corner after 25 minutes.

Unfortunately it was the visitors who drew first blow after the half hour mark. Aboulaye Faye fouled Di Michele on the edge of the box. Having broken City's hearts once before, former Spanish international Tristan stepped up and exquisitely curled the ball home to give the Hammers the lead.

Di Michele came close immediate to doubling West Ham's lead from just inside the area but he fired narrowly over Sorensen's crossbar after being freed down the left by Tristan.

The goal seemed to take the sting out of City's tale and it was West Ham who finished the stronger of the two sides in the first half. Boa Morte went close to finding the target from distance after a counter attack, but his effort went narrowly wide.

The Portuguese international was then booked for a foul on Delap at the other end, and the latter was also shown a yellow card for retaliating. Beattie's free kick then struck the wall which was no where near ten yards back. The fans then became even more riled when Lawrence was booked for diving when he appeared to be tripped just inside the box. That proved to be the final action of what was a frustrating end to the first period for the Potters.

City had the better of the opening exchanges of the second half, and Rory Delap should have done better after 53 minutes. Having won the ball well in the middle of the park, he opted to shoot instead of play the ball out to Lawrence on the wing, but slipped and sliced his effort harmlessly wide.

Fuller had a half chance when the ball dropped to him at the edge of the box just before the hour mark, but his volley flew across goal and out for a goal kick.

A couple of dangerous looking throw-ins were cleared as the hosts began to pile on the pressure. The visitors' first chance of the half fell to Junior Stanislas inside the box in the 69th minute, but he youngster fired high and wide.

It was time for change in the 72nd minute when Pulis made a double substitution. Henri Camara made his first appearance at the Britannia Stadium at the expense of Beattie, with Seyi Olofinjana replacing Danny Pugh. This meant a reshuffle as Andy Wilkinson shifted to left-back, with Delap taking up the right-back slot.

Skipper Abdoulaye Faye, who was named as the man of the match, almost headed his side level a moment later when he met Lawrence's corner but youngster David Noble rose to nod the ball off the line at the far post. A series of set pieces followed with the Britannia crowd roaring on their heroes, and they nearly had something to really cheer about when Camara went close to breaking his City duck just minutes after being brought on. However, his effort was well blocked by the outstretched body of Green.

Five minutes of additional time were announced by the fourth official at the end of the 90 minutes and the Potters went agonisingly close to picking up a point through Fuller. The Jamaican international neatly controlled a long punt into the penalty area, and after turning Neill he fired the ball goalwards from 8-yards, only to see it fly inches over the bar with the goalkeeper stranded.

More pressure was piled on during the latter stages but the visitors held firm to continue their push for a spot in next season's newly revamped Uefa Cup, while City retained their 8 point gap from the relegation zone after Middlesbrough's early afternoon defeat against Manchester United.