Heat by Heat Results - July 1967

Halifax dragged themselves up a couple of league places with a comfortable win over Long Eaton, who were heavily reliant on Ray Wilson and Anders Michanek.  The Dukes were again spear-headed by their top three, with Eric Boocock equalling his own track record in heat 10, but then being headed by Michanek the next time out.  Kentwell and Gavros were in the wars, Kentwell falling awkwardly in heat 7, whilst Gavros hit the fence on the first bend of heat 2 after a clash with Wilson, who was lucky not to have been excluded, injuring his shoulder.  Both continued but were clearly hampered by their respective injuries.

Despite the efforts of Eric Boocock, the Dukes slipped to a 12 point defeat at Belle Vue.  The Aces were boosted by the inclusion of new signing Ove Fundin, and this significantly strenghtened the hosts, who scored solidly throughout.  Halifax, meanwhile, whilst battling hard, always seemed to come out second best, with Kentwell, Bentzen, Jameson and Gavros all struggling for points.  Boocock handed Fundin his only 2 defeats of the evening, and also beat him in the second half, but was denied a full-house by Maidment in heat 3.

Halifax produced one of the performances of the season to put a dent in title-chasing Swindon's progress.  Dave Younghusband led the way with a paid maximum, including a win first time out against a slow-starting World Champion Briggs.  Briggs inflicted Boocock's only defeat of the night in heat 9 as the Robins stayed in contention, and the efforts of Ashby and Broadbank set up a last-heat decider.  But Boocock and Younghusband made no mistake in the final heat to take the win.  Both Gavros and Kentwell were still struggling with their respective recent injuries.

Halifax were comfortably beaten on the road again, going down by 8 points in East London, with some late tactical substitution rides bringing the scores closer than they threatened to be.  Younghusband was slow to get going, whilst Boothroyd was solid if not spectacular - leaving Boocock to carry the main threat.  But the bottom four could only muster 5 points between them, with Jameson and Bentzen both failing to score.

Eric Boocock won the Shay round of the Northern Riders Championship headed only by Newcastle's Mauger in heat 17.  Mauger and team-mate Olsen took the remaining rostrum places, but it was a good evening overall for the Dukes riders with Boothroyd (12), Younghusband (11), Gavros (7) and Kentwell (5) all getting in useful practice.

Eric Boocock was becoming a regular for his country, and his sensational form of the last 2 seasons culminated in a scorching 18 point maximum for England, who slipped to a last-heat 2 point defeat to an impressive Poland side, leaving the series level at 2-2.  Recent form had earned call ups for Younghusband and Boothroyd (at reserve), but it was Boocock and brother Nigel who led the way.  The Duke's number 1 equalled his own track record again in heat 4, but England let an 8 point lead slip in the final 7 races to succumn to defeat.

The Dukes returned to team action after a fortnight break with the final match in the Triangular series with King's Lynn and Hackney.  Despite going down to a 10 point defeat, the aggregate totals across all matches was enought to see Halifax take the trophy, which was presented immediately after the end of the match.  It was a solid performance from the Dukes, who welcomed both Bert Kingston and Maury Robinson back into the team after their injury absences.  Kingston was naturally apprehensive, picking up his only point in a 3-man finish, whereas Robinson combined for a couple of shared heats.

The Dukes saw out July with a straightforward win over Hackney, avenging the away defeat earlier in the month and moving them up to 12th in the table.  Boocock was again the star of the show, but special mention must go to Greg Kentwell who scored 7 points from reserve.  Both returnees Kingston and Robinson again found the going tough andwould clearly need time to settle back into racing, but the Hawks were largely a 2 man team as the hosts eased to the win.  The victory was marred however by events after the meeting - Dave Younghusband crashed whilst trying to detect a mechanical issue, and trapped his foot under his bike, resulting in broken bones in his foot which would keep him out for several weeks...