Cook: Stratford want to repay loyal fans with a win

CAPTAIN Jo Cook hopes Stratford-upon-Avon can secure victory today, Saturday, to repay their loyal fans for all their support so far this season.

The Black and Whites sit rock bottom of the South West One East table, have not won a game since October and have lost their last 11 league games.

Despite their poor run of form, the fans have been turning out in force, even on away days, to cheer their club on and Cook hopes the squad can repay the fans this weekend when Stratford welcome second-bottom Swindon to Pearcecroft.

The reverse meeting back in October ended in a 20-20 draw.

“We get around 75 to 100 fans every home game and even get a hardcore group of around 15 who come to our away games in a division where there are trips to places like Salisbury,” he said.

“All the supporters have come out in force for us, even though we have only won one game all season, and we would like to repay their loyalty with a victory.”

Asked whether the Swindon clash was a must-win, Cook said: “Personally it’s not a must-win, but it’s a game that’s certainly winnable.

"We’re not going into this game with the mentality that it’s the end of our season if we lose. It’s important we just focus on ourselves.”

Since director of rugby Tom Rance returned to his position, the performances from Stratford have been getting better as the weeks have gone by, but the results have not matched those displays.

The Black and Whites had earmarked the Witney game a fortnight ago as a huge chance to get just their second win of the season.

That, though, ended in a 15-5 reverse, but Cook is confident a win is just around the corner for Stratford.

“We’ve trained really hard this week and everyone is focused on the task ahead of us,” he added.

“Like I said before, getting that win is not a monkey on our back, but it’s getting to a point where we do need to start turning performances into points.”