Goals from Delano Burgzorg and substitute Sam Bell saw Roy Hodgson end his short spell as Bristol City interim head coach with a 2-0 Championship victory over Stoke at Ashton Gate.
The home side led inside a minute as Stoke goalkeeper Viktor Johansson somehow contrived to lose control of the ball under no pressure in a central position inside his box and gifted it to on-loan striker Burgzorg, who marked his first Ashton Gate start with the simplest of finishes from 12 yards.
It was not until the 89th minute that Hodgson could relax, Rob Dickie heading down a Mark Sykes corner for Bell to side-foot home from eight yards.
Stoke contributed plenty to an entertaining end-of-season clash, but could not find a finish to match their promising approach play.
Hodgson made two changes for the hosts in his final game in charge, bringing in centre-back Dickie and midfielder Adam Randell.
Stoke boss Mark Robins recalled Johansson and gave a first start since mid-March to Junior Tchamadeu among several changes.
Stoke fans behind his goal showed their support for Johansson after his astonishing early blunder, urging him to give them a wave, which he did gratefully.
He was soon in action to save a low Scott Twine shot and then saw a low effort from Tomi Horvat flash inches wide of the far post.
The Robins' first scare came after 18 minutes from their own player when Twine sliced an attempted long pass across his back-line and was relieved to see the ball drift past the far post, with goalkeeper Radek Vitek helpless.
Randell had a shot deflected wide before - at the other end - Stoke's Bae Jun-Ho saw a fierce effort blocked.
The resulting corner was cleared to Tchamadeu, who blasted a 20-yard shot against the crossbar only for the assistant referee to signal offside before a team-mate could react to the rebound.
Twine had a penalty claim rejected when going down inside the box just after the half-hour mark and should have increased the home side's lead on the stroke of half-time when - after showing excellent control and making space eight yards out - he could only fire the ball over.
The visitors made a change for the start of the second half, Tatsuki Seko replacing Ben Pearson.
They began brightly, but it was Bristol who threatened again when Dickie headed over from a Horvat free-kick.
Stoke were hanging on as a Horvat's low shot came back off a post and the resulting corner saw Randell head narrowly wide.
But, playing towards their own fans, the visitors were far from finished, forcing a string of corners and some desperate defending from their opponents.
Several chances went begging before Bell's late strike made it three wins and two draws from Hodgson's seven games in charge.
Bristol City's Roy Hodgson:
"I don't know what the future holds, but I didn't actively seek this position and, much as I have enjoyed being back at Bristol City, it seems unlikely that a similar situation will arise again.
"If someone says 'we need you to do a job' and I think I can then maybe, but it's a long shot. I am certainly not going to be putting my name out there because there are lots of managers and coaches needing jobs.
"The game had been very kind to me and I don't need the work anymore. It's nice to go out on a win and, while I didn't think it was one of our better performances, I couldn't fault any of the players for effort.
"Next week I have a meeting planned with the club's chief executive and then another with the owner, who was not able to be here today.
"I have left it in their hands to talk about the next manager and recruitment for next season, but of course if I am asked for an opinion, I will be happy to give it."
Stoke's Mark Robins:
"The supporters were brilliant from the moment they met us off the bus. It is so important that they see the positives and don't allow negativity to creep in.
"It has been a challenging season for many reasons and we haven't managed to better 14th place, which was one of the aims at the start of the campaign.
"Injuries have hit us hard. Viktor Johansson has made a mistake today, but I can say that if he had been available for all our games we would be 10 points better off. He has signed a new contract, which is a massive boost for everybody.
"I thought we played better than Bristol City. It's never ideal to concede so early, but the reaction was good and we created so many good situations.
"What we have to be better at is getting the ball forward quicker, which we did in the second half and making sure the movement is right in the box to get on the end of crosses.
"There will be a top eight to go for next season, which will hopefully create a lot of interest and we have to get the players in to create healthy competition."
