Come first in the spooning competition? (3,2,1,4)

I believe the answer is:

win by a neck

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'come' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'in the spooning competition?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'in' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'first' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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