Heat by Heat Results - July 1971

48 hours on from their Wembley humiliation, Halifax suffered a similar fate in South Wales, as they went down meekly to an 18 point loss, with Boocock and Younghusband again being the only threat.  Kentwell and Jay were completely off the pace, with Bailey failing to score for a third meeting running.  Paul O'Neal plugged away, but never threatened to win a heat.  The Wasps foreign stars all collected wins with ease, with the Dukes top two only managing to prevent a home rider taking the flag on 3 occasions.

The Dukes had a 100% home record since the defeat to Belle Vue 12 months earlier, but the record ended as their recent struggles continued against a dogged Sheffield side.  And Halifax were thankful to rescue a point after the previously unbeaten Airey broke the tapes in the final race, with the Tigers 4 points up.  Greg Kentwell and Eric Boocock salvaged an unlikely point, taking advantage of the Tigers' misfortune.  The match had seemed over, with Sheffield edging into a 6 point lead, then maintained by a series of shared heats, but a Younghusband/O'Neal 4-2 in the penultimate race gave them hope to salvage something.  Chris Bailey failed to score again, and was joined by Terry Lee.

Halifax staged their annual round of the Northern Riders Championship qualifiers, and saw Eric Boocock get back to form with a 15 point maximum.  Surprise packet Bobby Beaton of Glasgow took second place with 3 wins, only defeated by Boocock and Paul O'Neal. Dave Younghusband completed the rostrum with 12 points.  The other Dukes had a mixed night, with O'Neal, Jay and Kentwell never particularly in contention, Lee taking a couple of third places, but Chris Bailey struggling again and failing to score.

The Dukes went down to a predictable defeat at Hyde Road - a loss which now meant only one win in their last 7 matches, and dropped them to 14th in the table.  It was a night when nothin much went right, with Younghusband and Kentwell having mechanical issues, and even Eric Boocock not getting going until late in the meeting.  Chris Bailey finally scored some points, albeit only one at the expense of an Ace, whilst Lee was pointless again.  For Belle Vue, Mauger and Hemus were backed up by the latest up and coming junior from their production line, Eric Broadbelt, who impressed with three wins.

Halifax's first ever visit to Tilehurst and the Reading Racers saw another defeat, this time by 12 points, with Boocock and Younghusband again bearing the bulk of the workload.  Boocock managed only one heat win, when in heat 8 as a tactical substitute, whilst Younghusband inflicted the only defeats on Michanek and Curtis to deny their maximum hopes. Kentwell and O'Neal battled gamely, but Lee and Bailey again failed to score, with Jay's only point coming in a 3-man finish.

The Dukes pulled off a remarkable win over the league champions, to get back to winning ways.  After an early deficit, 5-1s in heats 4 and 6 saw the Dukes push into a 6 point lead, and when this was increased in heat 8 with Jay and O'Neal hitting the front, the Dukes seemed set for victory.  But inspired by Ivan Mauger, the Aces reduced the deficit to 4 points and set up a last heat decider.  When Kentwell broke the tapes, the Dukes fans feared the worst, but Younghusband made no mistake, inflicting the first defeat on Mauger to seal the win.  New signing Hiftle scored two second places, but also hit the deck on two occasions in his efforts to take the high line around the banking.

The Dukes made the trip to east London minus both Eric Boocock and Dave Younghusband who were riding in the British/Nordic final at Glasgow.  Their replacements, Plant and Cribb could not be faulted, racking up 23 points of Halifax's total of 32 - as the rest of the team again failed to deliver.  Chris Bailey managed to win heat 2, but offered little else, and Jay could only contribute a couple of third places at reserve, much less that the Dukes would have been hoping for.  The tie slipped away in the second half of the meeting, with no regular Duke scoring a point after heat 8!  Kentwell was later diagnosed to have dislocated his left shoulder after falling in heat 7.

The Shay staged the third and final test match between England and Sweden, as the home side salvaged a drawn series.  It was home star Dave Younghusband who stole the show with an impeccable 18 point maximum, even out-shining Eric Boocock, who dropped his only points to Michanek and Sjosten in heat 10.  England had lost the previous meeting at Wimbledon, so the heroics of the Dukes' top two certainly earned the draw for England.