Preston took just 70 seconds to show the Hammers that life outside the top flight would be no easy stroll as Eddie Lewis took advantage of a familiar defensive mistake to put the home side in front at Deepdale.

Defoe pulled the visitors level just three minutes later, darting onto Don Hutchison’s neat downward header before toe-poking the ball past Jonathan Gould.

And, despite fevered Preston pressure after the interval, it was the Hammers who earned maximum points when Connolly raced onto Matthew Etherington’s through-ball midway through the second period and beat Gould with a firm finish.

The glorious blue skies which bathed Deepdale in brilliant sunshine could not disguise the dark clouds which have threatened to drown the Hammers this summer.

With half a dozen key players leaving since the Londoners hurtled through the Premiership trapdoor – most painfully Joe Cole’s £6million departure for Chelsea on Wednesday – the club appear to be on the brink of open revolt.

The 3,500 claret and blue shirted fanatics who had made their way north chanted for the removal of chairman Terence Brown and rumours persist that Defoe will be on his way to Old Trafford before the August 31 transfer deadline.

Amid all this, Roeder somehow had to overcome his own health scare at the end of last season and set about galvanising a side who are still expected to bounce back immediately from where they came.

Sat helplessly in the dug-out, the Hammers boss must have wondered whether the job was worth it as his team immediately committed the kind of defensive blunder which saw them relegated in the first place.

Nephew of Rio, Anton Ferdinand fell asleep in the opening stages of his debut and allowed Lewis to steal in unmarked and nod home Graham Alexander’s cross from close range.

Had Defoe not levelled almost immediately, the Hammers would have been in big trouble.

As it was, the game turned into frenzied spells of attacking and defending, with Ricardo Fuller vying with Defoe for the tag of most dangerous player on the pitch.

Fuller, it has to be said, was aided by another flustered performance from Tomas Repka.

The Czech international might have bags of Serie A experience with Fiorentina but the knowledge he gained from Italy must have been lost in transit such was his inability to cope with Fuller’s languid style.

Christian Dailly was marginally more composed alongside, although he un-nerved David James by toeing a Richard Cresswell cross away from his goalkeeper late in the opening period.

James’ notoriously fragile concentration started to waver and the England keeper still had not recovered after the interval, when he came careering out of his area to confront David Healy, even though there were plenty of defenders around to see off the danger.

Healy briefly turned away, then lofted a curling shot towards goal which a stranded James watched in agony, only for Rufus Brevett to save him with an acrobatic goal-line clearance.

Fuller should have got a shot on target long before he fed Dickson Etuhu, whose cross the Preston striker headed narrowly wide after the Hammers had been split open again.

Amid all this, Defoe had been a ticking timebomb at the other end, proving why Alex Ferguson is so keen to land him. Apart from his goal, Preston were never comfortable dealing with the England U21 star’s pace and the striker’s eye for a pass might have seen his team take a half-time lead.

Instead, Gould made an impressive double save from Hammers’ new-boy Neil Mellor, who looked favourite to reach the rebound to his own powerful drive only for the Scotland international to smother just in the nick of time.

Defoe had only a bit part to play in Connolly’s winner, but by taking up an intelligent position wide of the Hammers’ substitute, he stretched the Preston defence, providing the summer signing from Wimbledon with the space to fire home.

Connolly should have had a second when Defoe’s reverse pass sent Ferdinand galloping down the right flank. But though the Irish international got a good sight at the defender’s cross he mis-cued completely and the ball ran harmlessly away.

Fuller had one more chance to level but finished off an impressive solo burst by blazing high over James’ goal. After all he has been through recently, Roeder probably deserved that bit of good fortune.