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Tyneside
Test Matches
Newcastle v
South Shields |
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A highlight of the early years (sixties) was
the annual Test Match series between Newcastle and South Shields. Les
Gustafson takes us through the meetings that provided tension,
frustration and close, exciting racing. All photographs were taken at
Newcastle's
Monkchester
Road track. |
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1966 Tests |
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Once contact had been established between the
South Shields and Newcastle Cycle Speedway clubs in the winter of ‘65/66,
a Test Series was organised – over two legs, with the aggregate score
deciding the winner. The first match took place on Saturday, April 23rd
1966, at the Trow Lea track in South Shields, with the return just over
two weeks later on Sunday, 8th May in Newcastle. Both teams
were handicapped in their away legs by lack of rider availability
(Newcastle missed the solid scoring of Gess Atkinson and Jim Smith in
South Shields, and Shields went into the Newcastle leg without
points-machine Jim Braney), but use in this 1966 series of Speedway-style
Tactical Substitute/Rider-Replacement helped to make up for these absences
to some extent, enabling Ray Turner to score 20 points from eight rides
in the first leg (four wins and four second-places). Ray had the
distinction of being the top-scorer in the first leg of the ’66 and the
’67 series – although for opposing sides, as he had moved to Shields in
the ‘66/’67 close-season, and was a key-man in their ’67 campaign. |
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Shields’ winning margin of eleven points in that ’66 first leg was the
widest in all the matches between the sides. As mentioned elsewhere, all
the matches were closely-fought, with the result never a foregone
conclusion. In that first leg of the 1966 series, Shields had gone 15-9
up after four heats, but Newcastle hit back with a 5-1 in heat 7, to
narrow the gap to 22-20, but several heat advantages saw Shields leading
49-35 after 14 heats, and Shields were still ahead 57-44 with one heat
remaining, in which Ray Turner inflicted what was only Jim Braney’s
second defeat of the match, narrowing the final score to South Shields 59
Newcastle 48. |
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Keith Thompson and
Jim Braney were the Shields’ stalwarts, helped by Doug Atkinson, but
for stamina and total points scoring, Ray Turner took the accolade.
Mike Dobson, the home captain, was unusually down on scoring-power after
an uncomfortable return journey from holidays the day before the match. Keith Dyer had wretched luck with his bike in his heats. |
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SOUTH SHIELDS 59
(Keith Thompson 17, Jim Braney 16, Doug Atkinson 13, Les Gustafson and
Pete Phillipson 5 each, Mike Dobson 3, Murray Gibson 0). |
NEWCASTLE 48
(Ray Turner 20, George Taylor 11, Norman Carson 8,
Keith Dyer 7, Ray Wilburn 2, Barry Smith 0) |
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A tight first bend sees the Newcastle pair of Gess Atkinson and George
Taylor leading Jim Smith and Eddie Murray. |
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In the return leg at
Moorland Park in Newcastle, the home side had to wait until heat six
before they could open up a gap with a 5-1, which they repeated in
heat seven, to lead 26-16 – only one point behind on aggregate. A
succession of drawn heats followed, until Shields grabbed their own 5-1
in heat 12, which brought the score to 39-33 in favour of the home side.
Although Newcastle then widened their lead to eight points, Shields
pulled the difference back to only five points with one heat to go, which
meant that they had clinched overall victory. A Newcastle 4-2 in the
final heat brought the match score to 57-50 in favour of Newcastle, with
Shields winning on aggregate 109-105. Norman Carson and Keith Dyer stood
out for the home side, and George Taylor recorded his second double-figure
score of the series. Keith Thompson again scored heavily for Shields,
assisted by a return to form by Mike Dobson, compared to the meagre
three-point score he recorded in the first leg, and he took eight rides
in this leg. |
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NEWCASTLE 57
(Norman Carson 16, Keith Dyer 14, George Taylor 11, Gess Atkinson 7,
Ray Turner 6, Jim Smith 3, Kenny Tiffen 0) |
SOUTH SHIELDS 50
(Keith Thompson and Mike Dobson 15 each, Doug
Atkinson 10, Les Gustafson 5, Pete Phillipson 3, John McConnell 2).
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Test Match action on the back straight at Monkchester. L-R Peter Burns
(N), Eddie Murray (SS), Jim Smith, (SS), Keith Dyer (N). |
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1967 Tests |
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There had been several significant changes by the time that the 1967
Tyneside Test Series took place, eighteen months after the first
contest. |
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Both sides had a different home
track. The personnel of both teams was quite radically different, and
the matches were still run over eighteen heats - but now with eight-man
sides. |
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Les Gustafson and
Mick Dobson (SS) on the way to a 5-1 over Gess Atkison and Keith Dyer
(N). Referee and starting gate
maker, George Grant can be seen on the centre green |
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The first leg was again in South
Shields, at Temple Park on October 8th. Shields took an early lead,
but Newcastle hit back with three 4-2 heat wins and the score at the
interval was 27.5 -26.5 in favour of the home side. Shields had opened
up a five-point advantage with just four heats to go, but Newcastle
then hit back with a 5-1, to trail by only one point. Shields
immediately scored their own 5-1, followed by a 4-2, and a drawn last
heat left Shields as 57.5 - 50.5 winners. Ray Turner headed the home
score-chart with a five-ride maximum, supported by Mike Dobson and
Terry Kirkup, each with 11 points. |
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Jim Graham led for Newcastle with 13
points, with Keith Dyer on 10.5 points (he and Jim Smith had
dead-heated for second place in heat three). |
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SOUTH SHIELDS 57.5
Ray Turner
15, Mike Dobson 11, Terry Kirkup 11, Jim Smith 7.5, Mike Noutch 6,
Les Gustafson 5, John Quinn and Barry Smith 1 each |
NEWCASTLE 50.5
Jim Graham 13, Keith Dyer 10.5, Norman Carson
8, Gordon Dominy 5, Kenny Kerr and Jim Hewitson 4 each, Gordon
Stobbs and Eddie Murray 3 each. |
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Jim Smith (SS)
leading Ken Kerr (N) into the 3rd bend. Behind are Les Gustafson (SS)
and Bruce Hiscock (N). Ken came through to win the race. |
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Although the aggregate result of the
1966 series had been very close, the home side in each leg at least
had the satisfaction of achieving a clear margin of victory , and it
seemed after the first leg at Shields that ’67 would follow a similar
pattern – but in fact the opposite was true, as subsequent matches were
so well-balanced that it was impossible to know the result before the
chequered-flag was waved in the final heat. For the Newcastle leg of
the ’67 series, held a week after the first match, both sides made
changes – bringing in absentees from the first leg Gess Atkinson (for
the home side) and Frank Auffret (Shields) – both of whom now made
important contributions. Newcastle also dropped Kenny Kerr to reserve –
a move which had a significant impact on the outcome of the match.
Bringing in Frank Auffret also allowed Shields to pair together their
top scorers from the first leg, Mike Dobson and Ray Turner – although
this was negated somewhat by Ray’s absence from the meeting until after
heat three, meaning that he missed his first ride. Fortunately, the
rules allowed him to turn up (no pun intended) as late as heat four,
provided his name was in the programme before the start of the match, |
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Newcastle started the match strongly,
with 5-1 scores in two of the first three heats, but Shields fought
back with four 4-2 wins, so that the scores were level 27-27 at the
interval, and Mike Dobson on 9 points was the only unbeaten rider. Jim
Graham and Kenny Kerr gave the home side another 5-1 in the first race
after the break, but a 5-0 to Shields in heat 13 saw them nose into the
lead 39-38, and increase this to 42-40 after a 3-2 in the next race
(the track was slippery in places, resulting in a number of falls and
exclusions – including those heats 13 & 14, where there were only two
finishers. The difficult surface and tight confines of the track caused
a number of mishaps). |
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Mike Dobson came out in heat 16
looking to emulate Ray Turner’s five-ride maximum from the first leg
and to keep Shields ahead, and looked good when he led from the gate,
but then fell, and the home side seized the opportunity to grab a
5-1, putting them two points clear at 48-46. A drawn heat 17 meant
that the match was still on a knife-edge as the riders lined up for the
final heat, and Newcastle played their trump-card by bringing in Kenny
Kerr for an extra reserve ride. He duly delivered the goods, heading
home Frank Auffret and Terry Kirkup, but a fall by the home-side’s
joint-top scorer Keith Dyer meant that the heat was drawn 3-3 (which
nevertheless saw Newcastle home to victory 54-52 – although Shields
again took the aggregate win 109.5 – 104.5). |
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For the home side, the old guard of
Norman Carson and Keith Dyer were joined on 10 points by new boy Kenny
Kerr, while Shields also had three riders in double figures. |
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NEWCASTLE 54
(Keith Dyer,
Norman Carson & Kenny Kerr – 10, Gess Atkinson 9,, Jim Graham 8,
Eddie Murray 5, Gordon Dominy & Jim McBeth 1 |
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SOUTH SHIELDS 52
(Mike Dobson 12,
Terry Kirkup 11, Frank Auffret 10, Ray Turner 7, Jim Smith 5, Les
Gustafson 4, Mike Noutch 3, John Quinn 0
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| 1968 Test Match |
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After the Newcastle leg of the ’67 Test Series, it
was thought that results couldn’t come any closer, and certainly the
South Shields team were apprehensive as they waited in the pits before the
start of the ’68 meeting at the same venue, being on the day without
Frank Auffret, who had raced to two wins and two second places in his
ten-point total in the corresponding meeting in ’67. There were
familiar names from ’67 on the team-sheets, but some had switched sides –
Jim Graham and Eddie Murray now represented Shields, and Terry Kirkup had
returned to the Newcastle fold, and this latter change was to have the
most impact on the match. |
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(Note: in those
days, Cycle Speedway followed Speedway in its scoring system – three
points for a win, two for second and one for third place – but
subsequently changed to 4-3-2-1, as a means of encouraging fourth-placed
riders not to drop out of heats – so present-day riders might not regard
Frank’s 10-point score in ’67 as anything special). |
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Once the match got
underway, however, Shields quickly raced into a 12-6 lead after three
heats, and although Newcastle had the first man across the line in three
of the next five heats, they could only gain one race advantage (a 4-2 in
heat 8), so by the half-way stage they were still four points down at
22-26. Shields owed their lead mainly to Ray Turner and Mike Dobson, who
had each won two heats, and the gap between the teams was maintained over
the four heats which followed the interval – until the only 5-1 of the
match in heat 13, which extended Shields’ lead to eight points, at
43-35. |
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Far from
disheartening Newcastle, however, this reverse seemed to galvanise
them into a last-ditch effort to save the match, and they scored 4-2 wins
in heats 14 and 15, to close the gap to four points. Their task was
still formidable, as the flying Ray Turner and the unbeaten Mike Dobson
still had to take their final ride, and Shields “super-reserve” Jim
Smith was penciled in for two of those last three races – but in heats 16
and 17 there was only one finisher across the line from each side, due
to exclusions and falls, and in the latter heat Norman Carson inflicted
Mike Dobson’s only defeat of the day. With Newcastle taking each of
those heats by a 3-2 score, it brought the totals to Newcastle 49 South
Shields 51, with one heat remaining. |
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If the freeze-frame
photograph of the first bend of that final heat had heralded its actual
outcome, Shields would have been home and dry, as it shows the home
side’s Kenny Kerr being squeezed out by the Shields pair of Jim Graham and
Ray Turner, with Kenny’s team-mate Terry Kirkup seemingly
trailing. Somehow, however, Terry found the
space to come through to the front, and with Kenny Kerr
relegating Jim Graham to last place, Newcastle tied the
match at the death, 53-53. Team management in
meetings between these sides was not for the faint-hearted ! |
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Only Terry Kirkup for
the home side managed to get into double-figures – courtesy of his wins in
heats 15 and 18 – but he was backed solidly, if less spectacularly, by
all his team-mates. In contrast, Shields were top-heavy on the day,
relying on Mike Dobson and Ray Turner for half of their points total.
Jim Braney rode his first match since the inaugural meeting two and a half
years earlier, and although his contribution was more modest on this
occasion, it was nevertheless critical, as his second place in heat 14
after Jim Graham had been excluded denied Newcastle the 5-1 which would
have given them victory in the match. Newcastle counted themselves
unlucky to suffer exclusions at key moments to George Taylor and Keith
Dyer. Each side had nine heat-winners, an example of how tight the
match was. One of those heat-winners was the youngest rider on the
track, Bruce Hiscock, who also had a second place in his three rides.
Although several years younger than the other riders, Bruce is sadly no
longer with us. |
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Ray Turner
(SS) leads from Bruce Hiscock (N), George Taylor (N) team riding to keep
Jim Braney (SS) at bay.
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NEWCASTLE
53
(Terry Kirkup 10, Norman Carson 9, Kenny Kerr, Keith Dyer & Gess
Atkinson – all on 7, George Taylor & Bruce Hiscock on 5, Peter Burns 3 |
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SOUTH SHIELDS 53
(Mike Dobson & Ray Turner 13, Jim Graham, Jim Smith & Eddie Murray
– all on 6, Les Gustafson 5, Mike Noutch and Jim Braney 2
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Action from
the start, re-run as the tapes failed to rise properly.
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The above photograph is of heat one of the 1968 Test, and
shows how difficult track conditions were on the day, as Keith
Dyer (in white) looks for a safe way round the first and second
bends to challenge Ray Turner for the lead. Behind them, Mike
Noutch fends off Gess Atkinson, who subsequently falls - one of
the several non-finishes in the match (and Keith's whites weren't
so spotless by the end !) |
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Newcastle Vikings Cycle Speedway Team 1968 |
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gave the pictures and information on that understanding. If anyone has
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and I will amend or remove the item. Where possible credit has
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