Having won their previous 4 games, City of Glasgow
Ragazzi went into their top teams cup match with Pentland Nuvoc of Edinburgh
with confidence and the momentum that winning builds. Nuvoc fielded an
understrength side for the match, but as underdogs they came out fighting
taking a 16-8 lead in the first set. Ragazzi looked shell-shocked and had to
fight hard to get back into the match, finally winning the set.
In the 2nd set, the Ragazzi boys finally began to string some decent
volleyball together, taking a lead and maintaining it for the set. Stuart
Haddow through the off setter slot began to find his range and had a licence
to kill. Alistair Galloway put together a run of 5 aces and Ragazzi firmly
took control of the game.
The 3rd set was more of the same from Ragazzi, with coach Tommy
Dowens keen to reinforce that these are the games where you learn most. In
the end, City of Glasgow Ragazzi won 3-0 after a tough start. It wasn’t
flashy, it wasn’t particularly spectacular, but it was effective. Plenty for
the team to build on for next week, and glimpses were seen of what the team
could achieve this season.
After the match, middle hitter Brian O’Neill said: “It was a good
workout for the lads. We had things to work on from training, and we are
making progress. Personally I am a few weeks behind in my preparation, but
like a good wine, its getting better with time.”
