West Ham's first ever league win at Deepdale came as they won 2-1 on a sunny Lancashire afternoon.
Despite the visitors losing 14 players in the summer, they took the game to Preston and deserved the three points.
But Craig Brown, in his 30th year in football management, could not have asked for a better start when USA international striker Eddie Lewis put his side in front after just 90 seconds.
It was Graham Alexander who cut inside from the right wing before hitting an inch perfect cross and Lewis glanced a header past England keeper David James from seven yards out.
The Hammers bounced back quickly and Jermain Defoe equalised in the fifth minute.
New boy Matthew Etherington who hit a left-wing cross to Don Hutchison who nodded the ball down to Defoe who slotted it neatly past Jonathon Gould.
The game went quiet following that early burst although Neil Mellor and Ricardo Fuller both missed the target when presented with simple chances.
After the break Hammers boss Glenn Roeder introduced Youssef Sofiane and David Connolly, and the substitutions soon paid dividends.
With 69 minutes on the clock Connolly sprung the offside trap and latched on to an Etherington through ball and sprinted 40 yards before stroking the ball into the right hand corner of Gould's goal.
It proved to be the winning goal, as despite late pressure the Lilywhites couldn't find an equaliser, with Fuller firing over the crossbar when through on goal.