ROTHERHAM UNITED boss Alex Bruce was left frustrated as his side fell to a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions.
The hosts were good value for their first league win in six attempts as Shaun Rooney and top goal-scorer Ronan Coughlan secured the three points.
After a goalless first half, it took just over 40 seconds of the second period for the Cod Army to take the lead.
A neatly-worked corner routine found Finley Potter in the middle of the area and he deftly back-heeled the ball into the path of Rooney, who slotted home at the far post.
In a bid to reverse the scoreline, Bruce made a quadruple substitution just before the hour mark and it almost led to them going level.
One of the four men introduced, Klaidi Lolos, narrowly missed the target with a header from just outside the six-yard box.
With 10 minutes left of normal time, Fleetwood then made sure of all three points through top scorer Coughlan’s header.
“We felt comfortable in the first half and our words at half-time were more of the same defensively,” said Bruce. “So for us to come out and concede within the first minute after that message is hugely disappointing.
“I sound like a broken record as it is the same thing at the minute. We have to do the basics and defend our box better because that is what has cost us the game again today.”
Bruce was keen to place emphasis on the Millers’ next two fixtures being home matches and stressed the importance of arresting their recent decline.
“I’ve just said now to the players that they’ve got two home games now to show a response to what has been a bad week or ten days for us,” he said.
“It is only two weeks since we went to Northampton and won ugly with a 1-0 and you could see that the confidence was there.
“The way of getting out of this now is by rolling up our sleeves and having a go.”
Fleetwood Town: Lynch, Rooney, Bennett, Potter, Neal, McCann, Murphy (McLean 77), Helm (Haughey 85), Batty, Evans (Davies 65), Coughlan (Cirino 85). Unused substitutes: Pradic, Loupalo-Bi, Robertson.
Rotherham United: Eyestone, Iorfa, Aljofree (Nemane 53), Douglas, Hall, Cover (Fitzgerald 54), Jellis, Buyabu, Austerfield (Spence 53), Bradshaw (Lolos 54), Mullin. Unused substitutes: Cann, Rafferty, Ngwenya.
Referee: Steven Copeland (Merseyside).