FANS invaded the pitch after the final whistle on Saturday, as Soham Town Rangers ended a 45-year wait for the Eastern Counties League title beating Needham Market 4-0.Soham - who were formed in 1947 with the amalgamation

FANS invaded the pitch after the final whistle on Saturday, as Soham Town Rangers ended a 45-year wait for the Eastern Counties League title beating Needham Market 4-0.

Soham - who were formed in 1947 with the amalgamation of Soham Rangers (1919) and Soham Town (1920) - joined the league in 1963, and had never been in a position to challenge for the title before. The best they had managed previously was third place in 2002/2003.

"I'm just so proud of the players." said Ian Benjamin, "and pleased for so many people at this football club."

He added: "It's just a fantastic, unbelievable achievement for the club, and it wasn't expected at the start of the season although I thought we could do it. The players have responded so well to what I wanted."

As for the match against Needham Market which clinched the title, Benjamin was full of praise for his team.

"Charles (Libam) and Darren (Jimson) tore them to shreds, and Callum's goals were superb. But it would be unfair to single them out individually because the whole team was brilliant - it was a perfect day for us and we got the all-important first goal.

"Needham Market had a couple of good chances early on though, and if one of those had gone in it would have been a totally different game."

Benjamin is already thinking ahead to next season's challenge, when Soham will be playing a higher grade of football, but said: " For the moment I am going to enjoy this success.