Goals from Ashley Hunter and Devante Cole saw Fleetwood end 2017 with a win after a comfortable 2-0 win at Bury.
The two attackers - who scored in Fleetwood’s last game at Oldham on Boxing Day – notched either side of half-time to secure the points.
Uwe Rosler named an unchanged side from the win at Boundary Park, with Conor McAleny named on the bench again for the second consecutive match.
It was a bright start to the match for Bury as Danny Mayor found space down the left-hand side, he managed to pick out Andrew Tutte inside the 18-yard-box, but the midfielder saw his shot sail over the crossbar.
Mayor was involved moments later, another run on the inside of Lewie Coyle caught out the Town defence and as he went to curl his shot around Chris Neal, Cian Bolger did enough to get a deflection on the shot to send it out for a corner. The resulting corner came of nothing for the hosts.
Chris Lucketti’s side nearly took the lead after quarter of an hour through Jay O’Shea. He wormed his way past the two centre halves of Town, however his strike at goal was tame and very comfortable for Neal to collect.
The game entered a period of stalemate with both teams cancelling each other side, especially in the middle of the park. Rosler’s men looked the more dangerous after 20 minutes and the travelling fans thought Bolger headed Town into the lead, but it only hit the side netting.
Town took the lead through Hunter with the next attack. George Glendon had success on the right wing, he played the ball into the box and it wasn’t cleared by Bury, and with it falling kindly for the inform Hunter, he pounced on the ball and sided footed the shot into the back of the net. That was just what the away side deserved after a good spell in the match.
The Shakers didn’t let the early goal get them down and they tested Neal from long range. Callum Reilly found a pocket of space 25-yards from goal, tried his luck and made the former Bury man punch the shot over the bar.
As Bury were building some momentum just before the half, the referee Mr Whitehouse blew his whistle and one minute was added on and sent Town back to their dressing room leading by the one goal.
Rosler’s men doubled their lead two minutes after the restart. Schwabl won the ball back inside of his own half, he played the ball over the top of the home defence, with Cole beating goalkeeper Leonardo Fasan to the ball and saw his shot land in an empty goal. The perfect start for Town in the second half.
Ashley Eastham made two crucial tackles soon after the goal with one being a well-timed, last ditched intervention on Smith and this lead to a Town counter attack, which resulted in Fasan pulling off a good save down to his left-hand side to deny Wes Burns.
Hunter looked to have made it 3-0 after the hour mark. The 22-year-old placed the ball in the net, and as he then went to celebrate with the 242 away fans he saw the linesman’s flag was up. You can only assume the official deemed the cross from Burns had gone out of play for a goal kick before reaching his strike partner.
Conor McAleny was introduced by Rosler after a few months on the side line, and makes his first appearance since the win over Oxford United at Highbury.
Neal pulled off one of the saves of the season later in the game to deny Craig Jones. The wide man worked the ball well past Bell, his left footed strike looked goal bound, and somehow the goalkeeper got a finger tip to the ball to keep his first clean-sheet in the league this season.
Town kept going until the final whistle and as the referee signalled for full time, it has now seen the Cod Army pick up six points from their last two away matches.
Bury XI: Fasan (GK), Leigh, Edwards, Cameron, Tutte, O’Shea, Smith (Maguire 66’), Dawson, Aldred, Reilly (Bunn 56’), Mayor (Jones 73’)
Subs not used: Moloney (GK), Skarz, Laurent, Danns
Town XI: Neal (GK), Coyle, Bell, Eastham, Dempsey, Burns (McAleny 72’), Bolger ©, Glendon, Hunter (Sowerby 89'), Schwabl, Cole (Hiwula 80’)
Subs not used: Cairns (GK), Pond, Rodgers, Biggins.
Referee: Dean Whitehouse
Attendance: 3,158 (242 away).