Heat by Heat Results - August 1971

Chaos reigned as the Dukes were defeated at Oxford.  Halifax were without the injured Kentwell, and fell 6 points behind after 7 races, when the already wet track was worsened due to a downpour.  Despite it being clearly too wet to continue, the referee was persuaded to continue the meeting.  The riders for heat 9 refused to take to the track, but Oxford tracked their reserves to eventually take a 5-0.  Boocock and Younghusband agreed to ride on and returned to win the last 4 races - the only points the Dukes got from those heat - but by then the match was gone.

Halifax staged a rare double-header meeting - first up, the league fixture with West Ham.  The Dukes had disposed of the Hammers by 20 points in the Cup earlier in the season, but this was a much closer contest, with Nygren and Rosenkilde keeping the visitors in contention until halfway.  Boocock and Younghusband only managed a single win each, and it was the contributions of Jay and O'Neal which swung the match the Dukes' way.  Bailey and Hiftle added some much needed strength at the reserve berth.

Meeting two of the double-header was the re-arranged fixture against Oxford, which was originally rained off in April.  The Dukes were warmed up from the West Ham match, and hit 50 points for the 3rd time this season as Boocock and Younghusband found the opposition less of a problem against the Cheetahs.  The visitors had ex-Duke Tommy Roper (incredibly now at reserve) to thank for saving them from a complete humiliation, as Halifax romped to 9 heat advantages.  

The Dukes marched into the Knock-out Cup semi-finals after a tense battle with local rivals Sheffield.  The Tigers were kept in the meeting due to the brilliance of Jim Airey, who scorched to a maximum, and kept his side within 4 points with only 2 heats remaining.  But a timely 5-1 from Boocock and O'Neal in heat 12 saw the Dukes finish the job.  Boocock recovered from a first heat tumble to record 3 wins, whilst Younghusband saw his maximum hopes dashed by Airey.  New boy Hiftle again impressed at reserve, although he over-did it in heat 8.

Halifax entertained Cradley Heath on a Friday night, the meeting being moved to avoid a clash with the European Final at Wembley the next day.  The Dukes were given a massive scare by the Heathens who forged into a 6 point lead after 6 races.  That allowed Boocock to be used as a tactical substitute and partner Younghusband to a vital 5-1, and when the skipper repeated the result with Kentwell in heat 10, Halifax took the lead for the first time.  At the bottom end of the team, O'Neal and the reserves struggled to pick up points as the visitors threatened a shcok result.

Cradley gained their revenge for the defeat on Friday night with a comfortable win over the Dukes.  Already without Eric Boocock, the Dukes were further hampered when Dave Younghusband crashed in his first outing, and injured his wrist.  With Kentwell, O'Neal, Bailey and Hiftle not in contention, it was left to Alan Jay and guest John Boulger to fight on, but the meeting was done once the Heathens went 16 points in front after only 6 heats.

For the second time that season, Halifax staged a test match, this time against Soviet Russia.  With England already 2-0 up in the series (with one match drawn) it was a shock at the Shay as the Russians grabbed the win in a last heat decider.  With Dave Younghusband ruled out, Alan Jay was called up as a replacement, but England were badly impacted by mechanical issues for Boocock, Haley and Plant, who would all surely have scored more points.  England won the final match of the series at Coventry to win 3-1 overall.

The August Bank Holiday fixture at the Shay in 1971 is remembered for one thing - not the Dukes loss, but for the debut appearance at Halifax of a 17 year old Peter Collins.  Having never seen the track before 6.00pm, Collins scorched to a 12 point maximum, including a win in heat 2 which was narrowly outside the track record.  It set the scene for an Aces win, with the Dukes also unable to cope with the usual threat from Mauger and Sjosten.  Halifax provided only 2 heat winners all night, both from Boocock, although guest George Hunter denied Mauger his maximum in the final race.