Swindon Town ended the year on a high after producing a gutsy display to beat Notts County 1-0 this afternoon at The Energy Check County Ground.
There was nothing to separate the two teams in a goalless first-half, although the home side did have the better of the chances.
However, Luke Norris' eleventh goal of the season got Town off the mark immediately after the restart, and that proved to be the winner on a superb afternoon for the hosts.
Following the 5-0 defeat to Luton Town on Boxing Day, Town Boss Dave Flitcroft opted to freshen things up by making four changes.
Reice Charles-Cook, Kyle Knoyle, Chris Robertson and Ellis Iandolo were all drafted in, while Lawrence Vigouroux, Ben Purkiss, Matty Taylor and Paul Mullin dropped to the bench.
There was also a change in formation too with Luke Norris and Kaiyne Woolery leading the line in a 3-5-2 formation - Knoyle and Iandolo taking on right and left wing-back roles respectively with James Dunne, Amine Linganzi and Keshi Anderson in the middle.
The Reds were hoping to put Tuesday's heavy loss behind them with a positive result against another of the division's high-flyers.
It was a fairly even start to proceedings with both sides looking to stamp their mark on the game from the very get-go.
Kaiyne Woolery looked to pick out Luke Norris but his cut-back was intercepted, which led to a break from the visitors although the offside flag put a stop to their attack.
And Town did have the ball in the back of the net with just eleven minutes on the clock after Amine Linganzi produced a composed finish from Ellis Iandolo's pinpoint free-kick, although the offside flag cut short the celebrations.
Linganzi then had another chance mere moments later as Town continued to make all the early running, but the midfielder's tame header was easy enough for Ross Fitzsimons to deal with.
Luke Norris drilled a free-kick straight at Fitzsimons with the home side producing an encouraging and spirited display early on.
Chances became few and far between as the half wore on although there was a rare opportunity for the visitors close to the break, with Jon Stead glancing a header into the gloves of Reice Charles-Cook.
Keshi Anderson then saw his half-volley blocked by a crowd of bodies inside the area as a hard-fought first-half came to a close.
Town made a flying start after the interval and it took them just a minute to open the scoring, thanks to Norris.
Anderson did well to get the better of Matt Tootle and send a ball across goal, and Norris was there to stab home the first goal of the game.
It could have been 2-0 minutes later as Woolery charged downfield on his own, shrugging off two challenges before hammering a strike wide of the goal.
The game became scrappy from that point on with Town more than happy to sit back and frustrate their guests.
There was nearly a second goal with twenty-minutes remaining as Iandolo's powerful free-kick was pushed to safety by Fitzsimons, while Jorge Grant could only curl a shot high and wide at the other end.
Town were continuing to push for a second goal to kill off the game and they came close yet again, Anderson and Woolery combining well inside the box with the former seeing his effort kept out by Fitzsimons.
Matt Preston then nodded over from Iandolo's corner in the final five-minutes, before Town made two late changes as Ben Purkiss and Paul Mullin replaced Knoyle and Woolery respectively.
Notts were piling the pressure on in the dying seconds with a succession of corners, and it took a stunning save from Charles-Cook, who clawed Dan Jones' looping header over the bar, to ensure Town ended 2017 with a huge victory.
TEAMS AND STATS:
SCORERS - Luke Norris (46).
SWINDON TOWN (3-5-2) - Charles-Cook; Preston, Lancashire (C), Robertson; Knoyle (Ben Purkiss 88), Dunne, Linganzi, Anderson, Iandolo; Woolery (Paul Mullin 88), Norris.
SUBS NOT USED - Vigouroux; Brophy, Taylor, Goddard, Gordon.
NOTTS COUNTY (4-4-2) - Fitzsimons; Dickinson (Dan Jones 75), Brisley, Hewitt, Tootle; Grant, Walker (Callum Saunders 75), Yates, Hawkridge (Elliott Hodge 82); Stead (C), Alessandra.
SUBS NOT USED - Pindroch, Hunt, Bird, Smith.
BOOKINGS:
SWINDON TOWN - James Dunne.
NOTTS COUNTY - Shaun Brisley, Jorge Grant.
Referee - Ben Toner.
Attendance - 6,238.
