Having done Ash a favour by holding Wallingford to a draw two weeks before, Farnham Town redressed the balance by beating their old rivals in a compelling local derby on Saturday.

Wallingford were themselves beaten by Withdean and so the league championship is still up for grabs, although with a game in hand and a one-point lead, the odds still favour Wallingford.

It is three years since Farnham beat their near-neighbours, yet, remarkably, they led 3-0 early in the second half.

But Ash can never be written off and with three goals coming in the last two minutes, the visitors almost salvaged a point.

"We had a game plan set out and we stuck to it," said delighted Town manager Andy Nunn. "Even when we were three up, I always felt they could get back into it because Ash always score.

"I was only interested in doing ourselves a favour. We've got a good side here and if we'd been more consistent, we could be in the top six."

No quarter was given in a typical local derby played at a high pace on a hard, bumpy pitch, well controlled by referee Andy Day.

Farnham's tactics were to defend in numbers and knock long balls towards their front-runners, while relying on their hard-working midfield to knock Ash's skilful playmakers off their stride.

With man-of-the-match Jayme Sporton quickly in the thick of the midfield action, Farnham had the better of the early exchanges, although it was Ash who came closest to scoring when Shaun Mitchell hit the crossbar from 18 yards.

The all-important first goal came after 35 minutes. Danny Brown and Scott Hooper were involved in the build-up, the latter slipping the ball to Ben Williams who drove home an angled shot from 15 yards.

Ash played the more controlled football after half-time, but Farnham's direct approach continued to cause problems and the home supporters in the large crowd could hardly believe it as their team powered into a three-goal lead.

Two minutes after the restart, Dave Johnston and Arjuna Adlam left the ball to each other and Brown nipped in to score into an unguarded net.

A vital moment followed three minutes later whan Vince Decicco was adjudged to have fouled Mitchell and Richard Bryant's weak penalty was saved by Chris Edmonds.

Ash soon paid the price, Sporton's astute pass finding Alan Morgan whose cross was turned home by Graeme Miles to make it 3-0.

But both goalkeepers were constantly in action and Farnham knew they were not yet safe. Sure enough, with 17 minutes left, Ash got back into it when an unmarked Matt Everard headed home Jason Lay's cross.

Then came the action-packed finish. With two minutes remaining, Paul Bonner's deep cross was turned back by Jamie Horton for Everard to stab home for his second goal.

Farnham earned breathing space when young Neil Grimes intercepted a rash pass across the area by Bonner and calmly shot past Adlam to restore the two-goal cushion.

Still, Ash were not finished and in the final minute, and on his 39th birthday, the evergreen Horton volleyed in the visitors' third.

But it came too late to save the match and Farnham were able to savour a rare victory over the old enemy.

Farnham: Edmonds, Wheeler, Williams (Grimes), Blake, Decicco, Sporton, Brown, Edwards, Miles, Morgan, Hooper. Subs (not used) M Brown, Musselwhite.

Ash Utd: Adlam, Bonner, Powers (Stickland), Bryant, Everard, Lay, Worsfold, Johnston (Wilson), Horton, Joyce (Jones), Mitchell.