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League Cup:
As in 1981, the start of the season marked the League Cup campaign. The Dukes were drawn in the North group, down to 7 teams only with the demise of Hull. The original starting 1-7 competed in all 11 of the Dukes fixtures - they won all their home matches, except for a draw against group winners Cradley Heath. An away win at Sheffield in the final match was largely academic as the Dukes finished 4th in the table. The away fixture at Leicester was rained off and with the result being unimportant, the match was not re-arranged. Cradley Heath defeated Ipswich in the final, winning both legs.
Three/Four Team Tournaments and Challenge Matches:
Halifax staged 4 extra events during the 1982 season - a 3 Team Tournament, a 4 Team Tournament, a Challenge match between Carter and Cartwright select teams, and the traditional end of season Northern Fours. Details of the scorers in each match are outlined below. Heat by heat scores and match reports can be found in the archive pages for that particular month. Interestingly, Kenny Carter took part in all 4 events, and was unbeaten throughout!
Other Matches:
Other fixtures staged at The Shay during 1982 were as follows:
13/6/1982 (Match 13) - England v Denmark Test Match, won by England 60-48.
26/6/1982 (Match 15) - Yorkshire Open Championship - won by John Louis from Steve Baker, after a crash in the first attempt to run the final resulted in injury to Merv Janke and the exclusion of Larry Ross.
18/7/1982 - Ian Cartwright Testimonial Meeting (not an official Halifax Speedway meeting).
11/9/1982 (Match 25) - Pairs Championship - won by Kenny Carter and Eric Monaghan.
25/9/82 (Match 27) - The Dews Trophy - this was held in 1982 as the second half to the home meeting with Cradley Heath as a normal 4 heats and final knockout. The final was won by John Louis, from Carter, Phil Collins and Martin Dixon.
Details of individual scores and race results for the above can be found in the Archive pages for 1982.
The British Match-Race Championship - The "Golden Helmet."
Kenny Carter entered the 1982 season as the Golden Helmet holder. His first challenger was Belle Vue number 1 Chris Morton, and the Aces skipper showed his intentions of relieving Carter of the crown with a 2-0 win at Hyde Road on Good Friday. Carter duly returned the compliment 3 days later at The Shay, to set up a neutral venue decider - at Sheffield, but the Dukes number 1 made no mistake, taking a 2-0 win to retain the title.
May's challenger was Hackney star Bo Petersen, but Carter dispatched the Dane over a 24 hour period, winning all 4 races, and breaking both the Hackney and Halifax track records in the process!
Carter's reign was ended by Sheffield's Shawn Moran in June - although the weather caused the races to be held over a 4 week period running into mid-July! Each racer won their home leg 2-1, with Carter again beating each track record. But in the decider at Birmingham, Moran won 2-1 to take the crown from Carter. The Dukes number 1 would get a further opportunity to challenge for the title the following April...
Full details of the heats and times can be found below.
The Juniors/Second-Half Riders: During 1982, the following riders took part in various junior matches for the Dukes and second half outings - those who rode for the main team are not included in this list, but will have their own biography in the riders archive - many thanks to:
Ashley Norton, John Walmsley, Richard Beever, Andy Smith, Dave Crang, Rob Manchester, S Parker, Robin Archer, Kevin Bellfield, Barrie Dixon and Chris Pailor.
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