Heat by Heat Results - May 1975

The Dukes' 100% home record disappeared in dramatic fashion, as they contrived to throw away a 10 point lead against Leicester, and suffer a shock last heat 5-1 to only draw.  There was no hint of the drama ahead, as the Dukes cruised to a 17-7 lead, and they still led by 6 points with only 3 heats remaining.  But Jessup and Auffret combined for a 4-2 to keep the Lions in touch, and the same pairing then grabbed an unlikely 5-1 over an under-par Plant and Pusey to steal a point.  The Dukes will rue Monk's engine failure as the tapes rose in heat 12.

The Dukes edged out Ole Olsen's Wolverhampton in a thriller at ths Shay.  Halifax trailed by 6 points after as many races, as guest Doug Wyer with two wins, and a 5-1 by Clarke and Hunter in heat 5 gave Wolves the edge.  But successive heat wins in heats 7 and 8, both involving Cartwright, and with Pusey defeating Olsen, got the Dukes back on level terms.  Four shared heats, with Olsen breaking the tapes in heat 12 set up a nervy last heat, and Pusey and Plant made no mistake at the second time of asking, after Hunter was excluded for unfair riding.  Cartwright was twice in the wars, with Thomsen involved on both occasions.

Halifax grabbed an unlikely away win at Leicester to leap to 4th place in the league, despite home star Ray Wilson hitting a maximum.  The Dukes capitalised on a lack of support for Wilson, as no other home rider managed a heat win.  Solid scoring from Pusey, Monk, France and the increasingly impressive Cartwright kept pushing the Dukes further in front, and even though Wilson took the flag in 3 of the last 6 races, the Lions could not make any in-roads.  Rick France was shown the flag after only 3 laps in heat 5 - the second time that had happened to him as a Duke!

Chris Pusey won his first individual meeting as a Duke, taking first place in the annual World Championship qualifier at a wet Shay.  Pusey won heat 19 to seal an unlikely victory, as Arnie Haley stopped whilst leading the previous heat when on course for a 15 point maximum.  Rick France fell in heat 8, and Graham Plant's engine gave up in heat 14.  Charlie Monk grabbed a pleasing 3 wins to finish 3rd behind Dave Morton, whilst Ian Cartwright battled hard despite being in pain from the ankle injury sustained against Wolves the previous week.

Halifax moved up to second place in the table with a comfortable win over Hackney, for whom Dave Morton carried on his form from the previous week's qualifier.  With Kroeze away on World Pairs duty, Mike Hiftle came into the side, and scored a decent 6 points.  France and Pusey led the way for the Dukes, whilst Hackney were reliant on the efforts of Morton, who was unbeaten, with Thomas and Lofqvist providing limited support.

Halifax chalked up another Shay win, with a Bank Holiday Monday victory over Cradley.  Chris Pusey scored 11 points from 4 races for the 4th meeting in a row, whilst fellow heat leaders Plant and France were also in the points.  Mike Hiftle continued his return by winning the reserve race, but typically fell twice in his efforts to overtake, whilst Monk and Cartwright provided good support for the top three.

With Chris Pusey on the sidelines, the Dukes slipped to a home draw against Hull in a tense meeting.  Halifax could not shake the Vikings off, as Plant and Cartwright's 5-1 in heat 5, followed by France and Monk's 4-2 was immediately cancelled out.  A shock 5-1 for Graham and Owen over France and the falling Cartwright drew the scores level again, and despite Plant heading for home in the decider, Kroeze could not fins a way past Beaton to clinch both points.  Nevertheless, the point maintained Halifax in second place in the table, a point behind Belle Vue, but with a match in hand.