After Titi Camara's first goal for the club had ruled out Sergei Rebrov's sixth minute opener, the young Northern Ireland international popped up with a bending free-kick from just outside the area that beat Spurs keeper Gavin Kelly at his near post.
It was the least that Hammers deserved after a highly entertaining performance against their north London rivals, who included the likes of Rebrov, Oyvind Leonhardsen, Anthony Gardner, Matthew Etherington, Stephen Clemence and Alton Thelwell in their starting line-up.
For Roger Cross' team, Izzy Iriekpen continued his road to recovery after a long spell on the sidelines, while young Irish goalkeeper David Forde made his second appearance for the reserves.
It was the home side who started the better, with Adam Newton and Shaun Byrne linking up to provide Laurent Courtois with a headed chance that he powered over the bar.
However, Spurs opened the scoring after just six minutes, when Ciaran Toner flighted a corner to the near post and Rebrov was perfectly positioned to nod the ball into the net from close range.
The Hammers responded positively and minutes later Grant McCann turned on the edge of the penalty area before unleashing a stinging effort that rattled the underside of Gavin Kelly's crossbar. It was a demonstration of McCann's shooting power that Spurs would later suffer from.
Our deserved equaliser arrived on 27 minutes, when the dangerous Omer Riza charged down the right and fed Camara inside the box. The Guinean used his strength to shake off the attentions of Gardner and squeezed his shot beyond Kelly for the leveller.
The Hammers finished the first half the stronger side and had a great chance to take the lead when Camara back-heeled to Newton 12 yards out. The Spurs keeper looked to have retrieved the situation, but spilled the ball and then picked up a back pass. The referee spotted it, but Camara blasted his shot into the crowd of on-rushing players.
Honours were even in the early part of the second half, but it was Spurs who had the next clear scoring chance after 70 minutes. Kamanan scuffed his shot in the area, but the ball completely deceived the Hammers defence and fell to Rebrov, who saw his close range effort blocked by Forde.
The hosts then stepped up a gear, with Riza, Camara and McCann all going close in the final 15 minutes.
A draw looked on the cards until three minutes from time, when the Hammers won a free-kick on the right hand side of the penalty area and McCann fired in his match-winning effort.
Team: Forde, Johnson, Soma, Byrne, Potts, Iriekpen, Newton, McCann, Riza, Camara, Courtois (Britton 80). Subs not used: Ferrante, Bywater, Eastwood, Dean.