Ross Gilbertson receives the Silver
Helmet from Wally Mawdsley
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MARCH
Romford had much to live up to following their sensational arrival in 1969.
The fact that it would be a tough task to improve upon their third place finish
in the British League Division 2 was brought sharply home when Ross Gilbertson
announced that he intended to retire in order to concentrate on his central
heating business, just weeks before the opening match of the 1970 season. Brian
Davies and Des Lukehurst had both joined the new Wembley Lions First Division
outfit and Bombers had signed Geoff Penniket from Long Eaton and Colin Sanders
from Plymouth.
Gilbertson was persuaded to change his mind, however, and lined up for the Bombers at home to Ipswich on 26th March. He was joined by Penniket, Sanders and Exeter junior Kevin Holden, nephew of ex-Southampton captain Bill Holden. Both Gilbertson and Phil Woodcock were unbeaten in their first three rides but failed to finish in their last outings - costing Bombers an early home defeat, 36-41. Gilbertson had been awarded the Silver Helmet as the first holder and successfully defended the trophy against Ron Bagley. Consolation for Woodcock was that each of his three finishes were inside the old track record, setting a new best time of 69.4 secs in heat 1 and equaling it in the 6th. Over 6,000 attended. The next day, the Witches completed the double, winning at Foxhall Heath by the same score, Gilbertson top-scoring with 12 points from 5 rides but losing the Silver Helmet to Bagley. Bombers' luck changed in a challenge at Canterbury as the Crusaders were put to the sword 48-30 in the Johnnie Hoskins Trophy. The visitors' captain, Barry Crowson, equaled Woodcock's track record.
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APRIL
Teesside provided the next opposition at Brooklands, Penniket topping the
list with 11 points as the Bombers ran out convincing 50-28 winners. Another
win, 44-33 at Rayleigh in the Essex Gold Cup, followed with three
Bombers, Gilbertson, Brian Foote and Colin Sanders all finishing on 9 points and
the winning streak continued against Long Eaton as Phil Woodcock notched
the first maximum of the season in a 49-29 home win. Woodcock went on to win the
Silver Helmet from Rangers' Mal Shakespeare. Two challenge matches followed,
both ending in defeat - 24-53 at non-League Plymouth with a weakened team
and 37-41 at home to Canterbury in the second leg of the Johnnie Hoskins
Trophy, Bombers triumphing on aggregate, however.
Phil Woodcock's blistering form continued at Workington where he added another track record to his collection - lowering the previous best at Derwent Park by an amazing six seconds to record 77.0 secs. Another maximum for Woodcock was followed by a successful defense of the Silver Helmet against Lou Sansom. Heavy rain caused Romford's home meeting with Eastbourne to be abandoned after heat 10, when Woodcock crashed and dislocated a thumb. Bombers were leading 31-22 at the time. Woodcock and Gilbertson scored 23 of Romford's 38 points at Reading where better support might have secured the Laegue points for the Bombers. A Mike Vernam maximum gave the racers a narrow 40-38 victory and he went on to take the Silver Helmet from Woodcock. Charlie Benham scored an unbeaten 9 points against Rayleigh as the Rockets were defeated 45-33 in a challenge at Brooklands, Gilbertson also unbeaten.
MAY
Bombers raced to a 48-30 home win over Reading in the Knock-Out Cup,
where Ross Gilbertson's 11 points were backed up with 9 apiece from Woodcock and
Geoff Penniket. Penniket then top scored for the Bombers at Canterbury
with 10 points as Romford lost 35-43. It was, however, to be Penniket's last
appearance for Romford as business commitments saw him transferred to Workington.
Maurice Morley said that he would "not go out of his way" to find a
replacement. Morley's faith in the strength of the Bombers squad seemed
justified as Brian Foote's 10 points helped the Bombers to a 44-33 home win
against Berwick, Gilbertson recording a "paid" maximum. A
narrow 36-42 defeat followed at King's Lynn where 9 points was enough to
make Colin Sanders the top Bombers scorer.
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The second round of the Knock-out Cup too the Bombers to Rochdale - and into controversy. Officials demanded that Ian Gills ride at No. 2 instead of as reserve. Romford rode under protest and lost 48-30 but the protest was later to be upheld and Bombers were awarded a replay. In a break from League action, Kevin Holden deservedly got his name onto the Best Pairs trophy at Brooklands
as he partnered joint track record holder Barry Crowson to 20 points. Brian Foote was again on form against King's Lynn at Brooklands, his 10 points supporting a "paid " maximum from Ross Gilbertson in a 46.1/2-31.1/2 league win, Starlet's first defeat of the season. Phil Woodcock had been selected to ride for Young England on a tour of Czechoslovakia and he was top scorer with 29 points.JUNE
Rochdale's first visit to Brooklands ended in defeat for the Hornets, the
improving Kevin Holden scoring seven points from reserve to help the Bombers to
a 47-30 success. Tony George was recalled to the team for the trip to Berwick.
On loan at Newport, George's fans had handed a 200 signature petition to Maurice
Morley demanding his reinstatement to the side. George responded with 6 points
as Bombers won 44-34, Ross Gilbertson recording his only League maximum of the
season. The scheduled trip to Rochdale for League points became a joint
League and Knock-out Cup fixture to accommodate the replay of the cup tie
following Romford's successful appeal. Perhaps they wished they hadn't bothered
as the Bombers suffered a 28-50 crushing, only Ross Gilbertson reaching double
figures with 11 points. The first leg of the Ken-Ess 4-Team tournament at
Brooklands saw Romford win comfortably, Kevin Holden again impressing with three
heat wins for 10 points.
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Ian Gills enjoyed a return to his old track with 14 points as Bombers lost another challenge 34-43 at Plymouth and he followed this up with his first 12-point maximum against Crayford at Brooklands in a 46-32 League victory. Gills was the subject of a transfer bid from first division Newport which the Romford management turned down. Amazingly, Gills then failed to score in the League match at Rayleigh - but Charlie Benham put in another strong performance against the Rockets with 10 from 5 rides as Bombers won 43-34, Woodcock with a maximum and Gilbertson a "paid" as Romford moved into third place in Division 2. It was Brian Foote's turn to score his first full maximum when Peterborough visited Brooklands. Phil Woodcock was also unbeaten and Ross Gilbertson got paid for thelot as Bombers ran riot against the Panthers, winning 54-24. The only heat winner for the Panthers was one Brian Davies, the ex-Bomber top scoring for the visitors with 10 from 5 rides. Phil Woodcock won the Carnival Rosebowl meeting a week later after a three-way tie with Ross Gilbertson and Ipswich's John Louis.
JULY
The short trip to Crayford began with only Brian Foote still upright
in heat 1 after the other three riders all fell. He was awarded the three
points, a lead the Bombers extended to win 42-33, 13 points for Colin Sanders
being his best in Romford colours. Bombers easily won a challenge against King's
Lynn 55-23 at Brooklands, with a maximum for Woodcock and a "paid"
for Gilbertson and this was followed by the Bombers' 5th away League win of the
season - 42-36 at Doncaster to put them in second place in the League,
just 2 points behind Canterbury. The Eastbourne Eagles were the next
visitors to Brooklands in a re-run of April's rained off meeting. Then, the
Bombers were nine points ahead going into heat 10. This time, however, the
eagles held a ten point lead at the same stage of the meeting. Three heat wins
to Romford reduced the arrears to just 2 points going into the last race. Ross
Gilbertson won the 13th to record 14 points from 5 rides but Charlie Benham
couldn't overcome the formidable Eagles pairing of Dave Jessup and Gordon
Kennett and the 3-3 gave Eastbourne a 40-38 victory. "We still have a great
chance of winning the League" said Maurice Morley, pointing out that
Romford had won more away matches than anyone else.
 John Hibben |
Dave Jessup returned to Brooklands a week later to win the Div. 2 London Riders Championship with 14 points from the unlucky Phil Woodcock, who was excluded in his last race when previously unbeaten. Tragedy then struck for Ian Gills, who broke his collar bone in a fall at Newport. Gills had been called up for a Young England cap along with Phil Woodcock for the series against Sweden but the injury meant that he would miss out. Dave O'Connor was signed from Exeter as a replacement - he fell in his only ride against Bradford at Brooklands as the Bombers lost again, 36-41. Mike Holt scored one point on his only Bombers appearance as a last-heat 4-2 snatched a 39-39 draw at Long Eaton. Ex-Canterbury rider John Hibben was drafted in to replace O'Connor for the visit of Reading to Brooklands. With Phil Woodcock in international duty, Brian Davies was called in as a "guest". Neither had a memorable evening and Bombers lost 36-41, Mike Vernam top scoring for the Racers with 11. Only bottom side Doncaster now had more home defeats than Romford as the Bombers suffered a similar mid-season slump to the previous year.
AUGUST
Bradford swept the Bombers aside with a 50-28 win at Odsal, where only Phil
Woodcock and Ross Gilbertson provided any opposition with 10 points each. In an
attempt to reverse the dramatic drop in form, Romford attempted to re-sign Des
Lukehurst - but the Speedway Control Board ruled that if he came to Romford,
Phil Woodcock would have to be released to Exeter. Brooklands staged its first
International when Young England defeated Young Czechoslovakia 56-52. It was an
unhappy night for the home pairing of Phil Woodcock and Brian Foote, scoring 4
and 2 respectively. Woodcock's track record was also taken from him, Vaclav
Verner twice reducing the time to set a new best of 69.0 seconds. The trip to Peterborough
ended in a 30-48 defeat, Woodcock scoring 13 as Romford received the news that
Des Lukehurst was banned from riding for them.
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After six League meetings without a win, the Bombers scraped home 40-38 against Workington at Brooklands thanks largely to a maximum from Woodcock. Charlie Benham beat Dave Percy and Tony George in a "Vultures" race for the reserve spot and Des Lukehurst made a brief appearance in a match race against Comets' top scorer Bob Valentine - Lukehurst fell but went on to win the second half event. The scheduled home meeting against Doncaster was rained off. A heavy defeat at Crewe, 24-53, saw Lukehurst ride for Romford without the approval of the Control Board. He top scored with 9 points, despite a fall and recorded the only heat win for the Bombers in heat 10. Romford finally got the clearance to ride both Lukehurst and Woodcock at the same time and Lukehurst celebrated with a 15 point maximum against Rayleigh at Brooklands as the Bombers came from behind to win 41-37. But Lukehurst's influence was not to be the same as last season. A heavy defeat followed at Eastbourne as a strong Eagles side out-rode the Bombers to win 50-28, Gilbertson and Lukehurst each scoring 9 points. Bombers them slumped to last place in the 4-Team Tournament round at Rayleigh, scoring 19 points.
SEPTEMBER
League leaders Canterbury visited Brooklands for a Division 2 fixture
on 3rd September - and left pointless after Bombers beat them 41-37. The
Crusaders had protested Romford's use of John Hibben, claiming that he was still
a Canterbury rider. Because Hibben was a serving Metropolitan Police officer, he
was unable to sign a contract but Romford had circulated all League clubs to
inform them that he was a Bomber. Crewe were next up at Brooklands and
they were also beaten, 48-30, with Phil Woodcock recording another maximum but
Des Lukehurst crashed in heat 9. The first leg of a challenge match at Ipswich
saw Rayleigh's Geoff Maloney guesting for Phil Woodcock, who was on
international duty. Bombers lost 37-41. The Eastbourne leg of the 4-Team
Tournament was abandoned after 7 races because of heavy rain, with the Bombers
in the lead! Phil Woodcock went through the card unbeaten to win the Battle of
Britain Open Trophy at Brooklands and was unbeaten again a week later when
Bombers defeated Rayleigh 44-34 in the first leg of the Essex Gold Cup.
OCTOBER
Woodcock's luck ran out in the following meeting at Brooklands, the Recorder
Trophy, when he fell in the first heat. His season was ended by broken blood
vessels in his chest. Eastbourne's Dave Jessup won the meeting. Romford were
second in the Canterbury leg of the 4-Team Tournament on 21 points and then
defeated Doncaster 51-27 in their final home League fixture, Charlie
Benham being joint top scorer from the no. 8 spot on 10 points along with Ross
Gilbertson. Dragon's George Major was unbeaten in 5 rides. The next evening,
however, Bombers were to suffer their biggest ever defeat, going down 15-62 at Teesside
in their last League fixture of the season. Colin Sanders topped the Bombers
scorechart with just 6 points. Bombers finished the League season in 8th place.
The second leg of the Essex Gold Cup, at Rayleigh - the second half of a double header for the Rockets - was abandoned after 8 heats due to FOG! Bombers were leading 31-17 at the time. They had also been in the lead in another abandoned meeting - the Eastbourne leg of the 4-Team Tournament - but came 4th in the re-run with only 11 points. Colin Sanders suffered a freak injury, breaking his collar bone when he fell in a novelty race. He had been riding a Penny-Farthing cycle! Ipswich were beaten 41-37 in the second leg of a challenge match to square the scores at 78-78. Barry Crowson had guested for the injured Woodcock and top scored with 10. Witches' rising star John Louis had also scored 10 points - and the Bombers used him as a guest in the re-run of the Essex Gold Cup match at Rayleigh. Louis scored a maximum but Romford lost 33-45. Louis featured in the Bombers' final meeting - a challenge against Eastbourne at Brooklands - as a guest for the Eagles. He was again unbeaten as the Bombers lost 36-42, Charlie Benham and Brian Foote sharing the honour of being top scorer with 7 points each. The Bombers management made a £700 bid for Louis' transfer to Romford. Needless to say, it was turned down!
