Heat by Heat Results - June 1966

The Dukes moved into June with a successive home demolition - this time the hapless victims were the Newport Wasps.  Not a single Halifax rider finished in last place all evening, as every heat bar one was an advantage for the home side.  Boocock, Boothroyd and Gavros were unbeaten by a Wasp, whilst the visitors only success of the evening was a lone heat victory for Jack Biggs, in as a tactical substitution in heat 9.  Halifax still languished in 12th place in the league, but had matches in hand on the teams above them, and recent results had made people start to take notice... 

In a break from league action, the Dukes, minus skipper Eric Boothroyd ventured to Teesside, to take on open-licence team Middlesbrough in the Northern Cup.  The hosts, including BL guests Nigel Boocock, Roy Trigg and Colin Pratt were still no match for the Dukes, due in part to the all-round scoring of Halifax, and a night to forget for Pratt, who failed to score in 3 outings.  Eric Boocock was in superb form, defeating his older brother twice on the way to a faultless maximum, whilst Dave Younghusband dropped only 2 points, as the Tigers guests scored all but 8 of their points.

Halifax got their Knock-out Cup campaign underway with a straight-forward victory over the Glasgow Tigers.  Despite engine problems ruining Dave Younghusband's evening, the remainder of the Dukes were in no mood to pass up the chance to progress, as Boocock, Roper, Boothroyd and Kingston all scored double-figures.  The fixture was effectively over as early as heat 4, when Boocock and Boothroyd combined for a fourth successive 5-1, and although Glasgow rallied, they could not get any nearer than 10 points, despite the efforts of main man Charlie Monk.

At the sixth time of asking, the Dukes finally won on the road, with a convincing defeat of Long Eaton.  The Archers were heavily reliant on Ray Wilson and guest Charlie Monk to keep them in contention, but Halifax lead from as early as heat 2, and never looked like relinquishing the points. Dave Younghusband put his engine woes from the Glasgow match behind him to register 3 wins, his 3rd place in the final race coming after the result was confirmed.  Boocock also weighed in with double figures, ably supported by Roper and Boothroyd - the four Halifax top order stars proving the difference.

Halifax hosted one of the semi finals of the British stages of the World Championship - but despite the Dukes' top three of Boocock, Boothroyd and Younghusband all reaching that stage, none of them were drawn "at home" - instead having to ride at Cradley Heath.  In the absence of any home interest, Barry Briggs eased to a 15 point maximum, ahead of Coventry's Ron Mountford and Peter Moore of King's Lynn.  The Top 8 qualified for the British Final at West Ham.

Halifax completed a quick double over Long Eaton with a comfortable 50-28 victory.  Again, it was the top four who set the scene, with Boocock and Younghusband racing to 12 point maximums, whilst Roper and Boothroyd weighed in with 8 points each.  The only down side was Bert Kingston, who struggled for a second meeting in a row, after his exploits against Glasgow a week earlier.  Only Archers' guest Brian Brett provided any resistance, taking advantage of his second appearance at The Shay in 4 days.   Dennis Gavros was un-injured after a nasty-looking tumble in heat 12 when replacing Kingston.

Halifax took advantage of a serious case of mechanical problems for Exeter to register a second away win away at The County Ground.  The meeting swung one way, then the other until the Dukes took control with a 5-1 from Jameson and Kingston in heat 8.  The Falcons closed the gap back to 3 points with 2 races remaining, but a Boothroyd-Roper 4-2 in heat 12 took the Dukes out of reach.  Apart from Boothroyd and Boocock, who reached double figures, it was an all-round effort with all the team contributing something to the scores. The result was the first part of what would ultimately be seen as a crucial 24 hours in the Dukes season and history, as they travelled onto the capital...

Was this the night that Eric Boocock sewed the seed for him becoming the Dukes legend he ended up becoming?  Was this the night when the Dukes emerged as serious, albeit unlikely, title contenders?  Halifax stunned the champions West Ham with a perfect away performance, culminating in Boocock holding his nerve to see the Dukes home in a tense last-heat decider.  Roper and Boothroyd took advantage of Harrfeldt's engine failure in heat 9 to put the Dukes in front for the first time, and four shared heats saw Halifax take another away victory, and move them up to third in the table!

A strong England side, featuring the top four Dukes, convincingly defeated a weak Scotland team who could only register 2 race wins all evening.  Nigel Boocock was the star of the show for England, racing to a full-house, whilst brother Eric, Dave Younghusband and Eric Boothroyd all had bumper pay-days.  Tommy Roper took advantage of Cyril Maidment's bike trouble to help himself to paid 11 points as well, as the contest was effectively over by the interval.

The Dukes completed a comfortable Northern Cup double over Middlesbrough, boosted by the inclusion of Ken McKinlay, Jimmy Gooch and Arne Pander.  With Eric Boothroyd sitting out, Greg Kentwell was given another outing in the team, and remounted for a point in heat 4 after Gavros stopped.  The highlight of the evening was a blistering heat 9 which saw Eric Boocock lower the Shay track record to 67.0 seconds!  Middlesbrough lead the tie early on, but once Halifax got going, the result was never in much doubt.