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71KO Cup Final Defeat By Hackney
![]() Season Review This was a disappointing season from a
results point of view but for speedway fans this was a brilliant year.
Close matches were the order of the day with four home matches resulting
in draws - v Hackney, Leicester, Oxford & Wembley. Nine other league
matches were last heat deciders so the Heathens fans were treated to some
very close encounters. |
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L to R. Roy Trigg, Barry Duke, Bernt Persson, Bob Andrews, Jimmy Squibb, Peter
Jarman, John Hart, team manager - Russ Bragg, inset -Mick Handley. |
Simensen's
replacement Bob Andrews was a late arrival and the Heathens were forced to
use novices from the winter training school Andy Bearne and Richard Eslick.
Johnny Hart was signed from Sheffield and Pete Jarman from Oxford. It looked a very 'experienced', side but after only one win in the first six matches Cradley signed Bengt Andersson a Swedish rider who had ridden for several British League teams. For a time Cradley held their own in League matches and the fans had a treat when Roy Trigg won a run-off against Pete Jarman in the World Championship round but it was short lived when "Speedy Pete" broke his ankle in the L.P.Trophy meeting again the Heathens were in trouble. Bernie Persson was again on form finishing runner-up to Ivan Mauger in the Les Pottinger Trophy meeting then a few weeks later knocking a whole second off the Reading track record while beating Anders Michanek. Through May / June Bernie got double figures on ten occasions, and got through to his third World Final in which he scored 9 points. Barry Duke came in from Swindon in exchange for local lad Mick Handley. Cradley reached the final of the K.O.Cup for the first
time since 1964 but were handicapped when Jimmy Squibb was injured (the
first time Jimmy had missed a match through injury for almost ten years.) |
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Riders Performance Chart 'The Heathens' 1971
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statistics taken from the Cradley Speedway database for BL matches only.
Final League Table
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KO Cup
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