Supporters of Scottish independence have taken their first opinion poll lead since the referendum campaign began, which indicates a real possibility that they might win, according to a YouGov survey for the Sunday Times newspaper.

With less than two weeks to go before the Sept. 18 vote, the poll puts the "yes" to independence campaign at 51 percent against the unionists at 49 percent, overturning a 22-point lead for the unionist campaign in just a month, the Sunday Times said.

The paper announced the headline results in a news release ahead of publication but gave no further details of the poll.

YouGov later said on its website that the results excluded those who would not vote and those who do not yet know. With those groups included, secessionists would be at 47 percent and unionists would be at 45 percent, it added.

It said that the poll, conducted after pro-independence leader Alex Salmond was widely judged to have won the second of two televised debates, amounts to a statistical dead heat at the moment.