THE Isle of Wight Islanders lifted the curtain on their 2008 speedway season at the weekend by losing the Chalfont Coaches Trophy to Reading Racers.

Southampton-based rider Glen Phillips was the Islanders top performer as they clinched a 48-47 first leg victory at Smallbrook on the Island on Saturday night.

But the Berkshire side, inspired by Ulrich Ostergaard and Mark Lemon, romped to a 56-36 victory in the second leg last night to win 103-84 overall.

The overall margin of victory seemed unlikely when the Islanders opened up a 14-point lead after nine legs the previous night.

Reading's heroes on a bitterly cold evening were Ulrich Ostergaard and Mark Lemon, who recorded major tallies of 17+1 and 15 points respectively.

Phillips was the Islanders' star performer with a 13-point haul.

Lemon (15 points from five heat wins) and Ostergaard (14 points from four heat wins) were again the Racers' main men last night.

FIRST LEG ISLE OF WIGHT 48: Jason Bunyan 7 (1), Cory Gathercole 6, Krzysztof Stojanowski 8 (1), Paul Fry 7 (2), Glen Phillips 13, James Holder 3 (1), Andrew Bargh 4 (1) READING 47: Mark Lemon 15, Tomas Suchanek 3 (1), Ulrich Ostergaard 17 (1), Chris Mills R 4, Tom P. Madsen 3, Jamie Smith 2, Sam Martin 3 SECOND LEG READING 56: Mark Lemon15, Tomas Suchanek 5, Ulrich Ostergaard 14+1, Chris Mills R 4+1, Tom P Madsen 10+1, Jamie Smith 6, Sam Martin 2 ISLE OF WIGHT 36: Jason Bunyan 8, Cory Gathercole 4+1, Krzysztof Stojanowski 11, Paul Fry 4+2, Glen Phillips 5, James Holder 3+1, Andrew Bargh 1+1