Stratford RFC must focus on themselves and not Ludlow, warns captain
SKIPPER Matt Cook has warned Stratford must focus on themselves and not Ludlow as the race for a top four finish between the two clubs nears its climax.
The Black and Whites drew 24-24 with high-flying Kenilworth on Saturday, their second stalemate in a row. Cook, Jo Cook, Charlie Powell and Dave Pritchard got the tries, while Nathan Geekie kicked the extras.
With Ludlow beating Old Halesonians 38-0, they opened up a two-point cushion over Stratford going into the penultimate round of fixtures. Stratford head to league leaders Lichfield while Ludlow host third-placed Stoke.
Depending on the outcome of those results, there could be a fourth place shoot-out at Pearcecroft on 23rd April when Stratford host Ludlow.
However, Cook told the Herald it’s important the Black and Whites focus on themselves. And having inflicted a first defeat of the season on Lichfield earlier in the campaign, the Stratford captain knows his team has the capability to beat the leaders on their own turf.
“We’ve proven on numerous occasions that we can compete with the teams at the top of the table,” he said. “We felt we deserved to beat Kenilworth on Saturday. We put them on the back foot and I think that came as a surprise to them.
“The draw was frustrating but we picked up another good haul of points and now we have to focus on Lichfield. We don’t need to worry about what Ludlow are doing, we just need to focus on ourselves and go and put in a performance at Lichfield.”
Cook added: “Playing away in this league is really tough, but we can take positives from when we beat them at our place earlier in the season.
“That was the first game Lichfield had lost so I’m sure they’re going to be up for it, but we’ll be up for it as well.”
