Today is a significant date in the history of Workington Comets – and 50 years ago the meeting at Derwent Park was to prove iconic to anyone who witnessed it.
May 21 was a Friday back then but looking back, from the birth of the Comets in 1970 through to the present day it will surely be regarded as the greatest night so far!
It was round one of the Inter League Cup and Workington were set to take on the mighty Ipswich Witches.
Cumbria Crack is grateful to former Comets team manager and long-time fan Tony Jackson for his reflections on this momentous night for Workington speedway.
He recalls: “Just to put things into context, Ipswich were the reigning British League champions and were led by John ‘Tiger’ Louis, who in the previous September’s World Final at Wembley had finished as World number three in front of 90,000 fans.
“In 1971 when the Witches had last raced in the same division of the Comets he was the rising star and nigh on unbeatable around any track, not just Derwent Park.
“Meanwhile, the Comets were currently sitting in third position in the National League, having only lost one match so far that season and were more than ready for the fight.
“The previous season the Comets had been unlucky to lose 38-39 to Swindon in the same competition so they knew the task in hand – bear in mind the gap between the two divisions was significantly greater than it is today.
“The Comets went into the match operating rider replacement for long-term injury victim Mal Mackay but had their new signing from Newcastle, Brian Havelock, lining up at reserve.
“Opposing them the Witches had the formidable heat leader trio of John Louis, Tony Davey and Australian Billy Sanders.
“On a track made heavy by afternoon rain the Comets made their intentions clear as skipper Lou Sansom sped from the gate leaving Louis trailing in his wake on his way to the chequered flag, winning the race in a new track record time of 70.8 seconds, knocking 0.8 seconds off his own track record.
“He had taken delivery of a new Neil Street four-valve conversion earlier in the week and had been down at the track every day running it in so that it would be ready for the Ipswich clash.
“Havelock’s debut ride didn’t go to plan when he broke down while leading heat 2, and so turning another Comets 4-2 into a 2-4 to level the scores.
“But, with Steve Lawson leading Sanders home in a shared heat 3 it was Sansom’s victory in heat 4, with Terry Kelly in third place, which put the Comets ahead once again.
“Yet again Ipswich pegged back the Comets in the next with Louis taking the chequered flag for what proved to be the only time in the match.
“It was the Witches turn to suffer mechanical misfortune in heat six as Davey retired while a Steve Lawson and Taffy Owen 5-1 briefly put some daylight between the sides, although that was immediately cancelled out by a Mike Lanham and Billy Sanders heat maximum in the next, relegating Sansom into third place for his only defeat of the evening and levelling the scores at 21-21.
“Colin Goad and Brian Havelock combined for a 5-1 to defeat Dave Gooderham and Ted Howgego in heat 8 to put the Comets four points ahead for the second time while race wins for Davey and Havelock respectively in shared heats 9 and 10 maintained that four-point advantage.
“Sansom defeated Louis for the second time in heat 11 while Havelock’s third place put the Comets six points in front with two races to go, however a 5-1 from the powerful Ipswich pairing of Davey and Sanders in heat 12 reduced Workington’s lead to just two points (37-35), going into the last heat decider.
“This saw Sansom and Goad line up against Louis and Lanham, with Workington needing three points for victory, but it was Louis that gated first with Sansom snapping at his heels and Lanham in third place.
“Then, on the third lap, Sansom spotted the smallest of gaps between Louis and the white line to power his way under the Ipswich skipper and hit the front, going on to take a famous victory, with the cheers from the fans virtually blowing the roof off the grandstand!
“To put Workington’s 40-38 achievement into perspective, Ipswich went on to complete the British League and Cup double that season; and man of the meeting Lou Sansom met John Louis three times in the match, beating him on every occasion before going on to beat him in the second half individual final too!
“The Comets went on to defeat Ipswich’s East Anglian rivals King’s Lynn at Derwent Park in the next round of the competition.
“They eventually lost at Hull Vikings in the semi-final.”
- WORKINGTON COMETS: Taffy Owen 3+1, R/R for Mal Mackay, Lou Sansom 13, Steve Lawson 10+1, Colin Goad 5, Terry Kelly 3, Brian Havelock 6+1, No.8 Roger Wright (did not ride).
- IPSWICH WITCHES: John Louis 9, Dave Gooderham 2, Tony Davey 8, Mike Lanham 6+3, Billy Sanders 8+2, Andy Hines 2, Ted Howgego 3.
