Heat by Heat Results - June 1980
The Dukes opened June in the worst possible way, slipping to a heavy defeat at Blackbird Road. The scene was set when Huszcza and Titman combined to shut Carter out in heat 1, and worse was to follow in heat 3. Janke took out team-mate Pendlebury, resulting in injuries to both. Although Janke (excluded from the re-run) was able to carry on, he failed to score. Pendlebury was ruled out for the rest of the night. Already using R/R for Langli, the Dukes were spread too thin, with reserves Pyszny and Sawyer having to take 10 rides between them. Only Carter and Cartwright could keep things respectable, as the Lions eased to the win as early as heat 10.
Happiness is 40-38! After a close encounter for the first half of the meeting, the Dukes edged into a 6 point lead, with only 3 heats remaining. However a 5-1 for Larry Ross and tactical substitute Roger Johns over Cartwright set up a tense finish. Carter completed his maximum in heat 12, but with Pyszny shut out, the scene was set for a last heat decider. Whilst Ross broke clear, Cartwright and Janke filled out the minor placings to seal the win. The Dons were hampered by the non-arrival of Mick Hines who was involved in a car crash en-route to the stadium.
Mid June saw the qualifying rounds for the Inter-League 4TT. The Dukes had been drawn with local rivals Sheffield and Hull, with National League Berwick Bandits added in for good measure. The top 2 sides would qualify for finals day at Wolverhampton, and the Dukes started in positive fashion with a 2nd place in the first leg at Owlerton. Carter and Cartwright scored a solid 20 points between them to keep them ahead of the hosts. Hull eased to victory, only dropping 10 points all evening, and giving themselves a 12 point cushion after the first leg. Berwick were completely outclassed, only scoring in 4 of the 16 races. Pendlebury had machine problems again for the Dukes.
The second leg of the Inter-League 4TT scheduled for 14/6/80 (match 13) at The Shay was postponed after heavy rain left the track completely waterlogged. The match was re-scheduled for 6th July.
The Berwick leg of the 4TT, now leg 2 following the postponement of the Halifax leg, saw the Dukes pull further ahead of Sheffield to consolidate their second place behind Hull, who won by 4 points. Carter was the star of the night, blitzing the opposition with a 12 point maximum, and with solid support from Janke and Pyszny, Halifax moved 13 points clear of the Tigers, who could only muster 15 points and finished last behind the hosts. Craig Pendlebury was still struggling following his recent injury and with machine problems, and failed to score - otherwise the Dukes may have pipped the Vikings on the night.
The Dukes and Vikings effectively booked their places in the 4TT finals day in the 3rd leg at Hull. The hosts were dominant throughout, only dropping 4 points all night, Mauger going through the card. With Berwick again out of their depth, the minor places were between the Dukes and the Tigers, and Carter's 10 points (beaten only by Mauger and Beaton) tipped the scales in Halifax's favour and extended their advantage over Sheffield to 14 points, with the home leg still to come.
Halifax returned to league action with the visit of Swindon Robins, and secured the points after a close-fought match. After 4 shared heats, the Dukes edged in front, and a 5-1 from Pendlebury and Sawyer in heat 8 extended their lead to 6. The Robins hit back through tactical substitute Phil Crump and Steve Gresham straight away, and victory was only secured once Carter and Pyszny took a 4-2 in heat 12. Carter and Cartwright both scored 11, both only headed by the impressive Crump, who received valuable support from the American duo of Autrey and Gresham, and reserve Spinka.
The final action at the Shay for June was the main individual event of the season, the prestigious Dews Trophy. A quality line-up was assembled, although promoter Boothroyd suggested some riders were unwilling to take the booking due to the Commonwealth Final the following afternoon at Wimbledon. American John Cook replaced Reading's Jan Andersson. When Pendlebury eased to victory in the first race over favourite Carter, the trophy looked to have slipped from the Dukes' number 1. And when Carter was headed in his second outing by World number 2 Plech, his chances seemed even slimmer. But Plech ran 2 second places allowing Carter to close the gap. Elsewhere, Dane Finn Thomsen seemed to have the trophy in sight after 4 comfortable race wins. Second place in heat 20 would have seen him take the victory, but Carter and Cartwright relegated the Dane into third place - and with Plech, Carter and Thomsen all tied on 13 points, a run-off was needed to decide the spoils. Carter made no mistake in the extra race, leaving Plech and Thomsen trailing, to take the trophy and the £150 prize! The remaining Dukes all had solid evenings, Cartwright was the best of the rest scoring 11.
Notes: Yellow box/number indicates home match/programme number. Score highlighted in Gold indicates full maximum. Score highlighted in Silver indicates a paid maximum.