Pentland NUVOC vs Glasgow Ragazzi 8th November

IIt was a determined Su Ragazzi side that travelled through to Craggs Sports Centre in Ednburgh to face Pentland Novuc. Following on from two straight defeats at the hands of Glasgow rivals, Glasgow Mets, the Ragazzi boys had something to prove.

With three enforced changes to the Ragazzi squad, it was a different looking side that travelled to Edinburgh. An injury to the hand of Dimitris Kozikopolous ruled him out, paving the way for a first team return for former Scotland internationalist Christopher McLattre. Stuart “Ken Like” Haddow was also unavailable through work commitments, missing out on the chance to play against many of his former Falkirk team mates.

Kevin Curran had to drop to the second team, who were short of numbers. After a tense opening set, in which neither team managed to open up any great lead Nuvoc began to exert some pressure, with the Polish setter opening up gaps for the Nuvoc players. Nuvoc managed to squeeze the Ragazzi boys out to a 26-24 victory. From the start of the second set the Ragazzi players were quickly into their stride.

Some great setting from Steven Todd allowed jet-setter Brian O’Neill the chance to express himself through the middle. This helped Ragazzi to a 25-17 win in the second set to level the match. Ragazzi worked hard to carry this new found momentum into the third set, eventually taking it 26-24. This momentum carried into the fourth set, with Su Ragazzi going into both technical time outs first.

The Glasgow team looked to be heading for a 3-1 victory, but Nuvoc players Graeme Riddle had other ideas, coming up with some heavy duty jump serves that the Glasgow team struggled to deal with. Nuvoc finally took the fourth 25-23.

The fifth set was a nervy one. But it was the Glasgow side, lead by the inspirational setter Steven Todd who took control of things. When match point came around a tremendous set to the middle gave Brian O’Neill a clear view to a kill. Ragazzi took the fifth 15-11.

Speaking after the match, McLattre commented. “Zat win was fantastiche. Ze team spirit was tres bon.”

Su Ragazzi will be hoping to continue their winning ways as they play host to team Fife next weekend.