Eric Boocock's men finished last in 12 of the 15 races which really tells the story of the way the meeting progressed.
They could find no answer to the class of Dane Ulrich Ostergaard, an Elite League winner with Peterborough in 2006, who went thr
ough the card with an immaculate 15-point maximum.
Sheffield got off to a bright start when Ashworth and Joel Parsons raced to a 4-2 over Lemon and Chris Mills in heat 1, but Reading quickly levelled things in heat 2 and by the time six races had been completed they had opened up a 25-11 lead.
Compton stopped the rot with a tactical ride win in heat 7 ahead of Tom P Madsen and Nicki Glanz to earn the Tigers a 6-3, but further heat advantages saw the Racers resume normal service to lead 41-22 after heat 9.
Ashworth restored some pride when taking the chequered flag in a shared heat 13, but it was too little too late as Reading ran out comfortable 60-plus winners.
Tigers will be hoping for a much better performance tonight when they go to the Isle of Wight in Knockout Cup action with a handy 14-point lead.
Co-promoter David Hoggart said: "This will be all about attitude. I saw the Isle of Wight meeting on TV last week and the track was clearly suited to their own riders. I feel sure the same will apply tonight and we will simply do our best and see if we can go through."
READING: Ulrich Ostergaard 15, Mark Lemon 10+1, Tom P Madsen 9+1, Joe Haines 9+1, Tomas Suchanek 7+1, Chris Mills 6+1, Nick Glanz 4+2.
SHEFFIELD: Andre Compton 12, Ricky Ashworth 10+1, Paul Cooper 5, Joel Parsons 4, Ben Wilson 1, Sam Martin 1, Lee Smethills 0.
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