Swindon Town 0 Fleetwood Town 1: Madden strike gets Cod Army back to winning ways in League One

Madden won the game with a brilliant first-time finish at the near post from Josh Morris' corner in the 29th minute.

And that made him the Cod Army's joint-leading scorer in the Football League, joining David Ball on 41 goals.

Fleetwood had only beaten Swindon once in their previous six league meetings but they were well worth the three points from this clash at the County Ground.

Yet they did need two good saves in quick succession from Jayson Leutwiler on 78 minutes to secure the victory - the second of them, from Anthony Grant's header down by his right post, an excellent stop.

Joey Barton made three changes to the side that lost 1-0 at home to Blackpool last weekend, with Morris, Madden and Paul Coutts coming in, and Coutts taking over the captaincy again.

It was Fleetwood's first match back in front of fans again, with Tier 2 Swindon backed by 2,000 supporters, who made a fair bit of noise when the teams took to the field.

Fleetwood had a decent shout for a penalty when Morris was barged over inside the box in the third minute. The ref adjudged it a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge but it looked like a foul.

Wes Burns defended well to shepherd the ball out for a goal-kick when Hallam Hope burst forward on the left.

Swindon, promoted from League Two last season, were desperate for the points as they languished in 20th place before kick-off.

And they had a sight of goal on 18 minutes, when Hope floated over a cross from the left and Jack Payne saw his glancing header just clear the bar.

In bright December sunshine, Barton's men produced a flowing move in the 23rd minute, four precise passes ending with Morris swivelling quickly and then firing just wide.

The visitors were starting to look the more purposeful and dangerous, and Swindon keeper Matej Kovar almost gift-wrapped a goal to Madden with a dreadful clearance, but it came so quickly to Madden he couldn't control his shot.

However, Madden made no mistake with his superb finish from a corner moments later to put Fleetwood deservedly in front.

Coutts was taken out by a late tackle from Hope which earned the Swindon winger a yellow card.

The Wiltshire outfit struggled to make inroads, twice thwarted by excellent blocks as Fleetwood's defenders closed down ferociously and threw themselves in the way of any effort on goal.

The Robins' former Fleetwood manager John Sheridan clearly had some words to say at half-time because Swindon's players came out more fired up.

They forced an early corner to get the home fans in full voice, and Matt Smith began to find himself in more space.

But at the other end Madden ghosted in behind the Swindon defence and Morris was not far away from turning his cross in.

For much of the second half it was a case of Swindon probing but not getting far as the Cod Army defended strongly.

With 15 minutes to go Barton made a triple substitution, bringing on Jordan Rossiter, Ched Evans and Glenn Whelan, for Callum Camps, Barrie McKay and Coutts.

And his team had to defend resolutely in the closing minutes to keep the clean sheet and make it a precious win - their first in four league games.

Evans even had an opportunity to make it 2-0 in stoppage time but poked his shot wide.

Swindon: Kovar, Odimayo, Baudry, Conroy (Fryers 69), Grounds, Smith, Grant, Payne, Hope, Smith (Smith 71), Jaiyesimi; Subs not used: Caddis, Pitman, Curran, Stevens.

Fleetwood: Leutwiler, Burns, Mulgrew, Connolly, Andrew, Finley, Coutts (Whelan 75), Morris (Duffy 84), Camps (Rossiter 75), McKay (Evans 74), Madden; Subs not used: Cairns, Hill, Saunders.

Referee: Christopher Pollard