Heat by Heat Results - October 1979

With fixtures piling up, a weary Dukes side travelled to Hull for the first leg of the Yorkshire Cup - but with a Cup semi final and possibly a final to still cram in, the chance of fitting in a return leg seemed remote.  As it was, Halifax were on the wrong end of another trouncing, with no visiting rider able to score more than 5 points!  Merv Janke scored the Dukes' only heat win in heat 2, at which point, the Dukes led.  But they then proceeded to lose 10 of the remaining 11 heats.  Joe Owen was unbeaten by a Halifax rider, whilst Mauger, Sigalos and Beaton all scored double figures.

Halifax finally got to race their Cup semi-final against Cradley Heath - however a 20 point deficit from a curtailed first leg left little for optimism.  The Dukes kept it close for the first 4 races, but with all but Carter and Cartwright struggling in the increasingly difficult conditions, the Heathens' superiority started to tell.  As the rain got steadily heavier, the referee had little alternative than to call a halt after 11 races.  The 2 teams agreed that the result would stand, with little opportunity to arrange a re-staging.

24 hours later, and the Dukes' slim hopes of cup progress ended, as they feebly lost at The Shay to a Heathens side who could even afford Bruce Penhall to have two stoppages and a fall.  With Merv Janke riding for Glasgow at Boston, Paul Sheard was drafted in, but unsurprisingly made little impact.  Although Langli and McKeon tried their hardest, the Dukes fans were clearly unhappy with the impact of the Lohmann brothers, with Klaus failing to beat a Cradley rider in either leg, and Mike running 2 last places.

48 hours on from the cup defeat, a demoralised Dukes team travelled to Wimbledon.  With Ian Cartwright unavailable, and Klaus Lohmann gone, the plans for the match were thrown into disarray with the news that Mike Lohmann would also not be travelling.  Alan Stansfield received a late call-up to help out, and Halifax had to use local junior Robbie Vigus at reserve.  In the end, it was the predictable defeat, with only Langli and Carter keeping the scores respectable. Both Roger Johns and Stefan Salomonsson were unbeaten for the Dons.

Halifax finally staged the 5th and final test match between England and Australasia after the postponement earlier in the Autumn.  The match itself was a one-sided affair, as England clinched a 5-0 series win.  From a Dukes' perspective, Ian Cartwright scored a solid paid 12 points, teaming up with Reg Wilson, whilst Kenny Carter announced himself on the international stage with a super paid 16 points - only beaten by the impressive Mitch Shirra.  Billy Sanders pulled out of the fixture with flu, whilst Phil Herne failed to arrive.

Halifax travelled to Reading with another uneasy truce signalling the return of Mike Lohmann.  But the Dane was powerless to prevent another substantial defeat, at a track where the Dukes had won only 2 months earlier.  Halifax found themselves 16 points adrift after only 7 races, and although Lohmann, Cartwright and Carter managed wins in the latter stages, and with Langli adding 4 second places, the Dukes were unable to make up the gap.  John Davis eased to a full score for the Racers, with Betts, Andersson, Stancl and Leigh all weighing in.

With the days of the season rapidly running out, Halifax were forced to put on a rare double-header meeting on the Sunday after the BLRC.  First up was the visit of Exeter, and thanks to the efforts of Cartwright, McKeon and Langli, the Dukes were able to see off the Falcons, albeit in a nervy last-heat decider.  Halifax held a slight lead throughout, but were never able to see the visitors off, and successive 4-2s for the visitors in heats 10 and 11 drew them level.  A superb win for Kenny Carter in heat 12 maintained parity, with Lohmann running last. In the final heat, Autrey was leading, to take the draw, but broke down on lap 3 to give Langli and Cartwright the win.

The second match of the evening saw the visit of Wimbledon - at the 3rd time of asking.  Already rained off from the start of the season, and then a few weeks earlier, the Dukes were able to end their home league campaign on a high with a comfortable win - despite the efforts of the superb Larry Ross and guest Reg Wilson - who incredibly scored all but 2 of the Dons' points!  Halifax were sharper overall following their earlier victory, and did not run a single last place all match, although with Ross and Wilson in 11 of the 13 races, heat wins were always in short supply.  In the end, 4 heat advantages in heats 1, 2, 9 and 10 proved critical.

Halifax ended the home campaign at The Shay with the traditional staging of the Northern Fours.  Signs that Mike Lohmann might be on his way from the club after a difficult season were fuelled when he lined up for Belle Vue - and top scored for the Aces, with the highest individual score of the night.  But his team for the night were beaten into last place, with Halifax edging the win by 2 points from Sheffield.  Heat 5 proved the crucial one, with Langli and Carter taking advantage of a Doug Wyer engine failure to grab a 4-2 over the Tigers.  Mick McKeon top-scored for the Dukes, despite indicating that this might be his last meeting in the country, with his future in the sport uncertain.

The 29th October 1979 will forever be known in Dukes' history as the night they suffered their heaviest ever away league defeat at Cradley.  Whether this was due to the lack of spirit in the camp following the events of the last 3 months, or an inspired performance from the powerful Heathens is open to debate - but the score-line was not.  Only a 2nd place for Tormod Langli in heat 9 - at the expense of future 3-time World Champion Gundersen - saved the ultimate embarrassment of a complete white-wash.  Skipper Ian Cartwright - one of the bright spots of the season - crashed out in heat 6, and didn't return, as the Heathens romped to a ridiculously one-sided victory.  A bad end to what turned out to be a less than satisfactory season.