San Francisco 49ers' Shaun Hill, left, gets his fumble recovered by Arizona Cardinals' Clark Haggans in the third quarter Monday, in Glendale, Ariz. <br><I>AP?Photo

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Arizona Cardinals accomplished something they hadn’t done since the team moved to the desert 20 years ago.

They won on Monday night.

So what if it was a struggle down to the wire? This victory felt just fine to a franchise that has had oh-so-little to cheer about for decades.

Kurt Warner’s ageless arm and an improbable goal-line stand at the finish saved the Cardinals from an ugly loss on a national stage.

The Cardinals stopped Michael Robinson up the middle from the 2-yard line as the game ended to preserve a 29-24 victory over San Francisco.

“That was definitely one of the most frustrating losses I can remember in my 15 or 16 years playing football,” 49ers center Eric Heitmann said.

The Arizona players were just as stunned as about every 49ers fan that Frank Gore didn’t get the ball for that last carry.

“I told Frank after the game, he’s their best player,” Arizona defensive back Adrian Wilson said. “In that situation, you’ve got to demand the ball. To have him as a wideout, to me, that’s not their best play.”

San Francisco interim coach Mike Singletary said the play was called by offensive coordinator Mike Martz.

“I think Coach Martz felt that there would be a cavity inside, so he made the call,” Singletary said. “So you’ve got to live with the result.”

Who made the game-saving tackle?

“We all did,” defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said.

Singletary said his team could have “done a heck of a lot better job” managing the final seconds.

Warner finished 32-of-42 for 328 yards and three touchdowns without an interception in Arizona’s sixth consecutive home victory, fourth this season.

The NFC West-leading Cardinals (6-3) never led until Karlos Dansby’s 34-yard interception return set up Warner’s 5-yard TD pass to Anquan Boldin with 4:16 to play.

San Francisco (2-7) had two chances after that.

The first ended on Wilson’s diving interception of Shaun Hill’s pass. The second was much more nerve-racking for the home team and exasperating for the 49ers, who lost their sixth in a row.

Hill’s 14-yard pass to Jason Hill moved it to the Arizona 1. With the last few seconds ticking off, Gore was pushed by a defensive player as he ran around left end, then stumbled to the ground just outside the 2.

After officials reviewed the play to make sure Gore was down by contact, the 49ers handed off to the fullback Robinson, who was stuffed nowhere near the goal line.

Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt stressed the positives, including the goal-line stand.

“We found a way to win a tough game, which is something you have to do,” he said.