Heat by Heat Results - September 1967

A few days, and home track advantage makes a big difference, and the Dukes demonstrated this by sweeping Poole Pirates aside.  The visitors were not aided by a lacklustre display from Gote Nordin (using borrowed machinery), following his heroics for Sweden in the World Team final the previous night, whereas Eric Boocock (5 points in the final) was unbeaten by a Pirate. Ronnie Genz was the only visitor who caused the Dukes any problems, inflicting the only defeat for Younghusband and taking points from Boothroyd, but he received no support, and the rest of the Dukes took full advantage.

In the usual pattern for the season, the Dukes struggled on their travels, allowing Sheffield to ease into a 10 point lead early on at Owlerton.  It was again a lack of support for the heat leaders which cost Halifax, with Gavros, Kentwell, Jameson and Kingston contributing a mere 4 points between them and only heading a Sheffield rider on 2 occasions all night.  Eric Boocock continued his fine form and his build up to his World Final debut with 4 straight wins after a surprise defeat to Hart in heat 1, and there was a welcome display from Younghusband who took 10 points from his 4 outings.

Halifax destroyed the King's Lynn Stars to record their biggest win of the season in a totally one-sided encounter.  The visitors managed to prevent the Dukes scoring a 5-1 on only 3 occasions, with the dogged Terry Betts involved in 2 of those, including a lone heat win in heat 9.  Otherwise it was bumper pay days for the Dukes, with Boocock, Younghusband and Kingston all unbeaten, Boothroyd and Jameson only dropping 1 point, and Gavros and Kentwell only dropping 2 points.

The Dukes travelled to West Ham, and battled to a 14 point defeat, but had no answer to Sverre Harrfeldt or the up-and-coming Malcolm Simmons, with a last heat engine failure preventing the latter from a well-deserved maximum.  For the Dukes, it was the usual story, slow from the starts and litle support for the heat leaders.  Boocock had a disappointing night (by his recent standards), while Younghusband's haul would have been higher but for engine problems in heat 5.  Jameson and Kingston made little impact however.

A rare Friday night meeting ahead of the Wembley World Final the following day saw a 20 point win for the Dukes over a one-man Exeter Falcons side.  Eric Boocock safely negotiated the meeting ahead of the big night, a rare 3rd place in heat 1 being followed by 3 comfortable wins.  Younghusband was unbeaten, with Boothroyd dropping his only point to Jimmy Squibb, who prevented the scoreline from getting ugly.  

A night to forget for the Dukes at Oxford, who had about every form of bad luck it was possible to get in one night.  Kentwell injured an arm in a collision with Seaton in heat 4 and took no further part, whilst Younghusband stopped in 3 consecutive races, the first 2 times whilst on a 5-1 with Boocock, and his bike failed for a 4th time on the way to the tapes in heat 13.  Gavros, in as a tactical substitute in heat 8, was second but crashed on the final bend and he too was ruled out for the remainder of the night.  And skipper Boothroyd had just gained second place in heat 10 when his motor also failed...

A comfortable win for Halifax against the Wimbledon Dons in the penultimate league fixture of the season.  Kentwell was ruled out with the injuries he received at Oxford, in what was to be his final meeting before sailing home to Australia for the winter.  The Dukes top three, plus Gavros, showing no ill-effects from his Oxford crash, dominated the fixture, with only sporadic resistance from Nygren and Hedge preventing the Dukes from running up the score.  Every one of the Dukes scored either a win or a paid win, whilst Middleton pulled out of the meeting for the Dons after a tumble in his second outing.

To fill an end-of-season gap in the fixtures, the Dukes entertained an "Overseas Stars" select team, featuring their own Bert Kingston and Les Bentzen.  Halifax gave a debut to local junior Dave Durham at reserve as they comfortably beat the opposition by 14 points. Boocock was again unbeaten whilst the remaining Dukes all weighed in with telling contributions. Charlie Monk, in as a late replacement for Harrysson, Neil Street and Olle Nygren were good value for the opposition.