MARK Noble continued his meteoric rise to West Ham stardom by shooting the Irons to a deserved opening Premier League victory at promoted Birmingham City.
The young midfielder celebrated his latest England Under-21 call-up by confidently firing home from the penalty spot after Craig Bellamy had been rashly upended by Blues goalkeeper Colin Doyle.
The 20-year-old, who netted two penalties during England's dramatic shoot-out defeat to the Netherlands at this summer's European Under-21 Championship, showed all the coolness of a seasoned veteran to send Doyle the wrong way from 12 yards with 20 minutes remaining.
Man-of-the-match Noble's strike was no more than Alan Curbishley's side deserved for shading a poor game played in persistent West Midlands rain.
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