June 3 Tigers 45 Exeter 32 (British League)
Former short term Tigers, Chris Blewett and Vic Ridgeon, lined up for Exeter but were unimpressive and got their points gifted to them when Jonny Faafeng retired from heat eight with engine trouble. Charlie Monk continued his good home form with his first maximum of the season, including an on the line win over Colin Goody in heat nine. Maury Mattingly celebrated his return to the team with a well taken nine points and got good support from Bluey Scott and Alf Wells. Bill McMillan would have scored more than two but for an exclusion for receiving “outside assistance” after falling in heat three. Trevor Redmond subsequently put a note in the program to warn track rakers against helping fallen riders to restart their bikes!
Tigers had the match sewn up by heat nine when they led by 37-16. Judicious use of tactical substitutes twice paired Sweetman and Goody together and they brought home two 5-1 s to give the final score a much more respectable look. Newport please note!
Tigers Scorers
Monk 12; Mattingly 9; Scott 8; Wells 7; Templeton 6; McMillan 2; Faafeng 1:
Exeter Scorers
Sweetman 11; Squibb 8; Goody 6; Street 4; Ridgeon 2; Blewett 1; Geran 0:
June 10 Tigers 50 Long Eaton 28 (British League)
Disappointingly, Ove Fundin had been injured in Germany earlier in the week and was replaced by Ivan Mauger who had an uncharacteristically bad night, managing only one win in five starts. Charlie Monk got his second consecutive maximum, while Maury Mattingly’s ten points confirmed his recent improved form. The Bluey Scott / Alf Wells pairing continued to be the Tigers boiler house, notching eight and nine respectively on a night when Tigers broke the fifty point barrier for the first time this season. While the Archers were undoubtedly badly turned over, their score was actually ten points better than last season’s pathetic attempt! Ray Wilson was best for Long Eaton with thirteen from five starts, while, once again, Vic White had a White City howler with nil.
Tigers Scorers
Monk 12; Mattingly 10; Wells 9; Scott 8; Templeton 4; McMillan 4; Faafeng 3:
Long Eaton Scorers
Wilson 13; Mauger 7; Cresp 4; Storer 3; Mills 1; Newton 0; White 0:
June 11 Halifax 57 Tigers 39 (K O Cup)
Tigers' interest in the KO Cup was quickly over after conceding four 5-1s in the first four races. A brief flurry mid meeting reduced the leeway to ten, aided by Dave Younghusband blowing the motors on both his ESO and JAP bikes in his two outings. Unsurprisingly he withdrew from the meeting and probably cried all the way home! Charlie Monk’s thirteen from five starts augured well for his World Championship British semi final here in four days time.
Tigers Scorers
Monk 13; Mattingly 7; Scott 6; Wells 6; Templeton 4; McMillan 2; Faafeng 1:
Halifax Scorers
Boocock 14; Roper 12; Kingston 11; Boothroyd 10; Gavros 5; Jameson 5; Younghusband 0:
Charlie Monk’s World Championship quest came off the rails after a heavy fall in his second ride when Doug Templeton was commended by the referee for laying his bike down to avoid him. Both were badly shaken up and finished well down the list of scorers. Bengt Brannefors, Tigers “nearly” man, was seventh top of the list of Swedish scorers in their World Championship rounds. This meant he would be first reserve at this years’ World Final at Gothenburg.
June 16 Middlesbrough 32 Tigers 45 (Northern Cup)
Middlesbrough were riding on an open licence and were using three guest heat leaders to supplement their own riders whom they hoped would develop into British League standard and perhaps allow them to reapply for British League membership. Peter Moore and Terry Betts from Kings Lynn and Long Eaton’s Ray Wilson were tonight’s imports. Kevin Torpie and Ray Day were names that Tigers fans recognised from their previous White City appearances and the Bears looked to have put together a solid team.
Heavy rain held the meeting up for over half an hour and there were many spills although thankfully none were serious. It was one time Bear Bluey Scott who along with Charlie Monk were masters of the rain soaked circuit. Tigers were always in control and a 5-0 in heat five, when Terry Betts took a heavy fall while chasing Bluey Scott, virtually sealed the outcome even at that early stage. Betts bike was badly damaged and he was a virtual passenger thereafter. Monk went on to score a maximum, with Bluey Scott only one behind having been beaten by Ray Wilson first time out. Willie Templeton and Jonny Faafeng also seemed to revel in the heavy conditions, scoring seven and eight respectively. Indeed only Maury Mattingly couldn’t come to terms with the heavy going and was replaced after two scoreless rides. An impressive performance by Tigers but sadly this away win wasn’t for British League points. Middlesbrough ran weekly for nearly three months but did not reopen the following year.
Tigers Scorers
Monk 12; Scott 11; Faafeng 8; Templeton 7; Wells 4; McMillan 3; Mattingly 0:
Middlesbrough Scorers
Wilson 10; Torpie 7; Moore 5; Lonsdale 3; Day 3; Betts 2; Holway 2:
June 17 Scotland 61 England 46 (White City)
England were badly hampered by the non arrival of Brian Brett who missed his train and by Maury Mattingly being unable to ride until heat thirteen because Jonny Faafeng, who was bringing his bike and leathers from the previous night’s meeting at Middlesbrough, did not arrive until then. Apparently Faafeng’s watch was three hours slow! Exactly how he survived in this country is not known! To compound their woes, Mike Broadbanks was struck in the eye by a stone in heat one and retired from the meeting. Despite a plucky performance by reserve Mike Watkin, England were up against it and trailed by eleven points at the interval, which featured, amongst other things, a pipe band and also a song from Ken McKinlay! Simpler times! Scotland ran out comfortable winners by 61-46, with Charlie Monk top scoring with fourteen points from five completed rides. He was defeated by Trevor Hedge in heat three and was well on his way to gaining revenge over the Wimbledon rider in heat twelve when his bike failed. Bluey Scott, with thirteen paid fifteen, and Ken McKinlay, also with thirteen, completed Scotland’s spearhead. Trevor Hedge was easily the best Englishman but was twice on the wrong end of a 5-1 from the impressive Bluey Scott / George Hunter pairing.
Really, this was not a great meeting and, like the two previous internationals held at the White City, a disappointingly weak English team was no real threat to the Scots. This would prove to be the last Scotland v England test match to be held at the White City, as the following year the only international was staged in Edinburgh, where a full strength English side rampaged to a huge victory.
Scotland Scorers
Monk 14; McKinlay 13; Scott 13; Hunter 10; W Templeton 6; D Templeton 5:
England Scorers
Hedge 13; Younghusband 11; E Boocock 10; Watkin 7; Mattingly 3; Kelly2; Broadbanks 0:
June 24 Tigers 60 Poole 17 (British League)
Poole Pirates, once the scourge of Scotland, were a pale imitation of their usual plundering selves. Tigers were without Jonny Faafeng who had returned to Norway to race in an international against Denmark and young Jim McMillan was handed his Tiger debut. Poole had White City expert John Dews guesting in place of Ronnie Genz who had been injured the previous night at Sheffield. This was Pirates third meeting in as many nights but that was no excuse for a really lack lustre performance. There were only three heats that Tigers did not take 5-1. In heat four, former Edinburgh rider Colin McKee pipped Jim McMillan for second place in the battle of the Macs. Bill Andrew headed home Bluey Scott and Alf Wells in heat ten and two heats later there were howls of protest from the crowd when Andrew seemed to knock Bluey Scott off, only for the Umpire to exclude the Tiger. At least that provided some excitement in an otherwise uneventful meeting. Bill McMillan recorded his first British League paid maximum, while Maury Mattingly got a full maximum, with Charlie Monk taking a rare paid max
Tigers Scorers
Mattingly 12; Monk 11; B McMillan 9; Templeton 9; Wells 9; Scott 7; J McMillan 3:
Poole Scorers
Andrew 6; Mudge 4; Dews 3; McKee 2; Briggs 1; Strachan 1; Cribb 0:
The SRA seemed to have had considerable sway over the BSPA and seemed to be greatly concerned with wider issues. It had banned commuting Swedes because it didn’t think that the sport could afford them and was now threatening to ban guests as it felt they were undermining the sports credibility. A new replacement rule (the Rider Replacement rule) was drafted, allowing a team to replace an injured heat leader by giving one extra ride to any other team member. As it was still possible to take a tactical substitute ride, a rider could therefore have six rides in a league match. Teams operating the Rider Replacement facility were obliged to take a number eight rider to the meeting and he was required to be given at least two rides, but NOT necessarily in the match itself, provided he got them in the second half. In its early days, most team managers gave their number eight a race in the league meeting, particularly away from home, and did not bank on them getting two second half rides.
Long Eaton were the first team to use the Rider Replacement facility to cover for the injured Ove Fundin and this highlighted the scheme’s inherent weakness when covering for the top rider
June 30 Oxford 40 Tigers 38 (British League)
Quite a night at Cowley! Referee Humphrey upset quite a few riders with his unusual starting technique, which saw the tapes released with riders wheels were on top of them. Cheetahs’ McDermott was well upset when badly left at the start of heat eight, from which Tigers took a 5-1 to go into a two-point lead. However in form reserve Des Lukehurst replaced the hapless Eddie Reeves in heat eleven and teamed up with Arne Pander for a 5-1, giving the Cheetahs a two-point lead. Any chance Tigers had of taking something from this meeting disappeared when Willie Templeton’s clutch packed up at the start of heat twelve, which Charlie Monk duly won, leaving Tigers with the last race in which to make up the deficit. With the unbeaten Arne Pander out for Oxford, this seemed unlikely, and so it turned out, with the Dane completing his maximum. So near and yet so far!
Tigers Scorers
Monk 11; Templeton 6; Mattingly 6; Scott 5; Faafeng 4; Wells 3; McMillan 3:
Oxford Scorers
Pander 12; Bishop 10; Gooch 7; Lukehurst 6; McDermott 5; Reeves 0; Clarke 0: