Heat by Heat Results - April 1967

The Halifax Dukes kicked off the defence of their league title with a visit to a strong Swindon side, led by World Champion Barry Briggs.  Omens were not good when Dave Younghusband was ruled out with a bout of flu.  Halifax arrived a man short and fielded local Aussie junior John Woodcock in his place.  Predictably, on a track where the Dukes always struggled, it was Boocock and Boothroyd who put up limited resistance, as the season got off to the worst possible start.  Briggs and Kilby were unbeaten all night, whilst Halifax could only provide two heat winners and one heat advantage in response, with Kingston looking apprehensive on his return from injury.  Briggs also defeated Eric Boocock to defend his Silver Sash title.

The Dukes got their home season off to a flying start with a last-heat decider victory against a stubborn Ivan Mauger-inspired Newcastle.  With Nygren guesting for Pete Kelly, the Diamonds made Halifax work hard for the win, with Mauger constantly bringing his side back into contention.  But after forcing a last race decider, Mauger, in for his rider replacement outing, suffered mechanical issues, leaving Boothroyd and Boocock to pick up the Dukes' first and only 5-1 of the evening to take the win.  Younghusband returned from illness and weighed in with a solid 8 points, as the Dukes got back to winning ways.

In a close match, Halifax slipped to an agonising 4 point defeat away at Newport.  The hosts were heavily reliant on the form of Gooch and Harrysson, but an all round display from the Dukes kept them in contention, even when things looked like slipping away from them mid-meeting.  Gavros and Kentwell combined for an excellent 5-1 in heat 8, and subsequent 4-2s in the next 2 races saw the Dukes level the scores with 3 races to go.  But Younghusband had mechanical problems in heat 11, and Halifax were unable to pull back the deficit.  Kentwell was earlier well placed in heat 5 but caught the fence and stopped, giving the Wasps a fortunate heat win.

The home league campaign started with a solid win over Belle Vue.  A shuffle in the riding order saw Dave Younghusband promoted to the number one race jacket, and he responded in the best way with a flawless 12 point maximum, combining well with Greg Kentwell for 3 heat advantages.  The meeting was, however, marred by the frightening crash in heat 3 involving Bob Jameson and the returning Tommy Roper, which resulted in Jameson withdrawing from the meeting with a knee injury.  The meeting was also affected by issues with the starting gate and numerous "unsatisfactory" starts which left both teams unhappy with refereeing decisions.

Halifax's first visit to London of the 1967 proved less successful than their last visit the previous October, as the slipped to a frustrating 11 point loss. The Dukes dominated the opening races, with their heat-leader trio keeping them in the lead, but the Dons levelled up after a heat 8 win, setting up a nervy finish.  Halifax went into the penultimate race 2 points down but confident of turning the situation with Boocock and Younghusband coming to the tapes.  But Boocock crashed, and Younghusband stopped in the re-run to hand the win to the hosts.  Bob Jameson was clearly hampered by the knee he injured the previous weekend.

Another frustrating away defeat, another last-heat decider which slipped away from the Dukes.  Long Eaton, bolstered by Rider Control signings Michanek and Lightfoot were a different proposition to the previous season, and kept the scores close in a match where the lead changed hands several times.  The Dukes were hampered by a lacklustre Younghusband who failed to build on his heat 1 win.  With Bob Jameson ruled out, Maury Robinson stepped in and combined with Kentwell in heat 4 to send Halifax 6 points up.  Boocock completed his maximum in heat 12 but Boothroyd lost a close decider to Michanek to hand the win to the Archers.

The re-arranged fixture with Glasgow saw the Dukes record a comfortable victory, with both Younghusband and Boothroyd in unbeatable form.  But the meeting was marred by the dreadful crash in heat 10 involving Bert Kingston.  Grin was in second place when he lost control, hit the fence, and was struck by the following bike of Jimmy McMillan who was powerless to avoid him.  Kingston was taken by ambulance to hospital, whilst the Dukes saw out the remaining heats.