Heat by Heat Results - June 1973

Halifax raced into summer with a convincing win over Wimbledon to secure their passage to the next round of the Cup.  Already 4 points ahead after their win in London, the Dukes took control early on, with the pairing of Boocock and Andrew proving unbeatable.  The Dons briefly threatened a comeback when Hedge and Harkins defeated Titman in heat 5, but five successive heat advantages for the Dukes killed the tie off.  Les Sharpe continued his tentative return with two falls.

Despite getting off to the best possible start, the Dukes went down to a fighting 8 point defeat at Hackney.  The early advantage was soon a memory, as Halifax found themselves 10 points behind before a 5-1 from Andrew and Titman clawed the deficit back.  But with Sharpe, Monk and Hansen out of contention, the visitors were always second best.  Boocock had 4 wins, but found himself shut out when taking a tactical substitute ride, whilst Hiftle was his usual battling self, but hitting the deck on 2 occasions. The Dukes' fortunes were summed up in heat 7 - Hiftle replaced Sharpe, only to break the tapes, and be replaced by Sharpe as a tactical substitute!

After 2 years of losing out to Ole Olsen, Eric Boocock finally got his hands back on the Dews Trophy after a thrilling contest.  Ray Wilson looked to be on course for the victory with 4 wins, including a defeat of Boocock in heat 8, but the Leicester number one lost to Olsen and team-mate Boulger in his final outing, when a second place would have sufficed.  Boocock made sure of his chance by exacting his revenge on Wilson in the run-off.  Boulger finished a point behind in third.  It was a night of mechanical issues for Olsen who managed to win one heat with his carburretor stuck open.

Halifax quickly gained revenge over the Hawks with a convincing 20 point victory.  It was a solid team performance from the Dukes, with Boocock leading the way, dropping his only point to Thomas in heat 10.  But other than Thomas, and Kennett at reserve, Hackney had little answer, with Hiftle, Titman, Sharpe and Andrew all scoring with ease.  Titman's maximum chances were spoiled by a seized engine first time out, whilst Hiftle completed a 3 ride maximum, to start a complex debate about who would challenge Thomas for the Golden Helmet.  In the end, Boocock was correctly chosen as the challenger, and defeated Thomas to become the new holder.

Beating Belle Vue was always good - but beating them and moving to the top of the league was even better.  Bill Andrew's second paid maximum of the month, added to a season's best at the Shay for Charlie Monk saw off the Aces challenge, with the visitors never really recovering from two 5-1s in the first two races.  With Pusey injured in Poland the week before, the visitors operated rider replacement, but the move back-fired as the back-up to Sjosten from Collins and Broadbelt failed to materialise.  John Jackson deputised for the absent Hansen, and provided extra grit in the reserve berth as the Dukes took the points.  Boocock defended his Golden Helmet against Sjosten after the end of the match.

The end of June and start of July saw the much-anticipated International Tournament between the top 7 countries, with Halifax chosen to host two of the league fixtures, leading up to the semi-finals and final at Wembley.  In the first fixture, a bumper crowd, swelled by local Polish support, saw the Poles defeat the USSR, with impressive performances from Plech, Jancarz and Zyto - although reserve Szczakiel could barely get around the Shay track and fell in his last outing...he would be in the news later in the season...