Saturday 31st October. Has it been a turning point? It was an unusual situation for Su Ragazzi with the men`s teams at home, while the Fabulous Suettes had an away match in Edinburgh to play the Jets Ladies.

There was daylight (just) when the very threadbare Su Ragazzi squad met in North Lanarkshire for the drive to Edinburgh. They lost the match 3 to 2, another five set thriller V the Jets Club where the Su team were on the wrong end of the fifth set, but Coach John French was clear that there were signs of progress in both the performances and attitude of the Suettes.

Short of four players, all of whom were arguably starters, the pressure was always going to be to win the outside hitting battle; it was close. The Suettes approached the game in a more positive frame of mind, Captain Lynny Edwards stepped up to the plate and lead from the front, something which has been missing of late . Young Alex Dickenson was outstanding, and Claire delivered her best match of the season clearly still on the high which had started last Saturday when she broke the routine of the season to get married!

Meanwhile at Coltness the Men II entertained Grassmarket Jets. The visitors played the game with a smile. They worked hard, they made the game competitive, and they set about achieving their prematch targets with real enthusiasm. The home side were always in front, always edging the competition, and they duly won 3 to 0, but they were pushed. The Su players were excellent, and hesitant at the same time. They won points for themselves and gave them to the Jets in errors, but there was a feeling that the Su players were pretty much in control of the game – is that progress?

The second match at Coltness saw the City of Ragazzi team welcome old rivals Kilmarnock for the second consecutive week. The encounter was electric! It represented the best of the Scottish game, and a very high performance level. The home side won 3 to 0 and in patches were `all guns blazing` in what was an enthralling match. Kilmarnock simply were not allowed to really play for spells, but their reputation for being one of Scotland`s top teams was not earned lightly and they fought hard to stay in the match. Had they managed to stabilise their service it might have been different, but on the day they were strangely hesitant in the serving box, and produced too many errors in this crucial element of the match.

The battle raged between the spikers and the blockers, with both striving for supremacy. Towering blocks were followed with simply terrific spikes, both sets of payers were near their edge of control, but finally the Glasgow side emerged with the win, and an outstanding performance. Afterwards the players stood and chatted in `Kevin`s Cafe`. They ate cake and drank tea, they talked of the game in light tones which belied the level of intensity which was felt; this was a very big win for the Ragazzi side, and perhaps it is a corner turned; so, is there light at the end of the tunnel?