Heat by Heat Results - October 1976

Henny Kroeze failed to put the crown on his magnificent season, when a tapes exclusion cost him victory in the Autumn Classic.  Kroeze lined up in heat 17 knowing a win would guaratee him the title - but he jumped too soon, and his chance was gone.  Instead, it was Reg Wilson who defeated Mitch Graham in a run-off to take the trophy.  In a separate run-off, Bobby Beaton defeated Dave Jessup and Kroeze for third place.

With the season running out of weeks, the Dukes staged a double-header, firstly taking on King's Lynn in the Cup semi-final.  Halifax were always up against it, but failed to claw back the 14 point deficit after making the worst possible start.  Neither Kroeze nor Cusworth managed to finish heat one, and with the deficit now 19, the prospects were bleak.  Turner's second place in heat 9 took the Stars out of reach, and although Halifax recovered to win on the night, their remaining chance of silverware was gone.  Mike Lohmann's best score of the season was hardly noticed.

A bad night got worse, as the Dukes followed up their cup exit with a league defeat to Belle Vue.  Mick Newton replaced Andy Cusworth, and teamed up with Kroeze to win the opening heat, and when the Dukes surged into a 15-3 lead, it looked like a win was on the cards.  The collapse which followed included 7 heat advantages for the Aces, as the Dukes failed to provide another heat winner, save for Kroeze's defeat of Wilkinson in heat 10.  Otherwise, it was Belle Vue all the way, as Collins and Morton were supported by Tyrer.  Mike Lohmann was in the points again, but the Dukes ran out of steam.

Halifax by this point had definitely run out of steam, as they slumped to their heaviest defeat of the season in a one-sided meeting in West London.  Five second place finishes were all that separated the Dukes from the worst possible scoreline, as Kennett, Greer, Lovaas and Gachet were all unbeaten.  The end of the season really couldn't come quickly enough now...  White City beat Leicester in the second meeting of this double-header.  The result was the Dukes heaviest ever defeat to date, eclipsing the 59-19 scores at Reading in 1973 and Ipswich the previous season.

Henny Kroeze's summer of high scores was brought to a spectacular end, as he was carted off to hospital following a heavy crash in heat 6 whilst battling Doug Wyer.  A full-strength Dukes might have edged the Tigers, but without Plant, Cartwright and now Kroeze, the defeat was inevitable, although it took the Tigers until heat 8 to take control when Lohmann hit the deck.  A surprise return to action from Charlie Monk failed to make much change to the outcome.

The Dukes first ever visit to Birmingham resulted in a last heat one point defeat to a similarly weakened Brummies.  Mike Lohmann had his breakout performance with 11 points, and with Pusey and guest Broadbelt getting 9 points each, an away win looked on the cards, as Halifax led throughout.  But old foe Sjosten had other ideas, and teamed up with guest Molyneux for a last heat 5-1 to steal the points.  The Dukes gave a debut to second-halfer Graham Dawson, whilst Steve Finch made a vital contribution.

Halifax's grip on the Yorkshire Cup was loosened as they went down by 12 points on Humberside.  Hull's Bobby Beaton was in top form, failing to get his maximum in the final race.  For the Dukes, guest Richard Greer had 4 wins to keep them in contention, but back to back 5-1s for the Vikings in heats 10 and 11 pulled them clear.  Mike Lohmann continued his end of season improvement, but Chris Pusey had a frustrating night.

Charlie Monk again cried off with his back strain as the Dukes went down fighting at Hackney.  Guest Mick Hines and skipper Pusey fought to keep the Dukes in contention, but the Hawks had too much overall, as the remaining four Dukes found points hard to come by.  Halifax found themselves 12 points down early on after another slow start, and although the match was lost, it was to their credit that they minimised the damage, with Andy Cusworth joining up with Hines and Pusey in heats 10 and 13 for heat wins to make the score respectable.

Pulling back the deficit from the first leg of the Yorkshire Cup was a tall order, but the Dukes contrived to lose the home second leg too, as their end of season woes got worse.  The tone was set by Chris Pusey's engine failure whilst leading the opening race, and with the Vikings' Mitch Graham and Bobby Beaton in top form, the Dukes struggled to stay in touch.  Guest Alan Wilkinson scored a solitary win in his top score of 9 points, and the available-again Monk had a pair of second places before failing to leave the pits for heat 12 - although the result was already decided by then...

Sheffield defeated King's Lynn 40-38 in a last-heat thriller before the slightly easier task of beating an under-strength Dukes.  There was another promising return from Mike Lohmann, who was definitely making a good case for a return in 1977, whilst guest Richard Greer again failed to let Halifax down with a top-scoring 11 points.  But with Finch, Dawson and Cusworth scoring only 5 points between them, the bottom end of the side was exposed yet again.

Another season which promised so much came to an end, in a 10 point defeat at Belle Vue.  The margin might appear a moral victory, but the Aces will look to three engine failures as an excuse for not taking a more convincing win.  Guest Mitch Graham scored a superb 13 points, but had a stoppage himself in his final outing, whilst Pusey and Lohmann plugged away - Pusey's 5-1 with Newton in heat 5 even putting the Dukes briefly in front.  The skipper even pushed home for a point in heat 9 after breaking down on the final lap.