THE secret to winning any long-distance race is to time your burst for the finish to absolute perfection.

And that is exactly what Deeping did at the weekend after an epic Division One tussle as they dipped at the tape to snatch the Division One crown from Wisbech St Mary in their own back yard.

With just two games remaining Saints only needed a point to make sure of the title but with both those games against Deeping – the only team capable of denying them – there was always a chance of an upset.

And that's exactly what happened as the Deeping lads completed two wins inside a week against the Cambs and League Cup holders to emerge as classic dark horse winners of the division.

After beating Mark Miller's high flyers 4-3 at Outgang Road, a thrilling win away from home on Sunday was secured by an injury time winner from Marcus Howard following a hat-trick from Matt Sparrow.

Deeping boss Nigel Reeve said: "To be honest I only gave us an outside chance of getting the job done as Saints have been really strong this season and we had to win both of our games against them.

"Once we got the result at our place though we grew in confidence and, while we knew it was going to be hard to get the job done, we knew we had a chance.

"But we certainly had to sweat for it and with two minutes to go the title was theirs until we got a late free-kick which Marcus guided in.

"We have not won the title since we were in the Under 8s so this is long overdue, but I would like to say well done to Saints and Stanground who have both won their county cups and made it a brilliant league to play in this season."