Farnham are in pole position to win the Surrey 1 championship and straight promotion to the London Leagues after their famous victory over London Irish Amateur on Saturday.

After 80 minutes of blood-and-thunder play on the cramped, sloping 'second pitch' at Wrecclesham, the home players and supporters held their breath as Nigel Rooney took the penalty that could turn out to be the defining moment of Farnham's season.

The dead-silence as he lined up the kick was unforgettable, so were the triumphant roars as Rooney planted the ball, from wide on the right, straight through the posts.

The pressure on Rooney was massive. Only minutes before he had dropped short from a similar position and as this was his only lapse on a wet and windy afternoon, with the lower side of the pitch soon churned into a quagmire, it was a superb display of cool-heading kicking by the fly-half.

A touch-line conversion, giving Farnham the lead for the first time at 10-9, was quite outstanding.

In many ways it was a strange game. Farnham were under immense pressure for much of the first half, when they had the wind behind them, yet scored the only try of the match in the second period, just when Irish were looking comfortably in control.

In the first half, as the Irish threes showed their class with some dazzling handling moves through midfield, Farnham's defence of their goal-line was heroic.

True, there were a couple of miraculous escapes – notably when Gareth Evans dislodged the ball from a forward's hands as he attempted to ground it. But it was discipline and guts, plus some cool line-kicking by Simon Lewis, that denied the visitors a try or two and held them to a 6-3 lead at the turn-round.

The amateur wing of the great London club had scored 343 points in 11 matches, but ran into a brick wall in the shape of the Farnham forwards.

Gerard Teehan, Irish's gifted fly-half, kicked a penalty and missed two difficult ones before limping off injured.

But Johnny Quinn was an ominously good replacement and although Rooney levelled the scores at 3-3, the visitors had got their noses in front again at half-time.

Early in the second half, Farnham fell further behind when more heavy pressure forced them to transgress in front of the posts and Quinn kicked Irish into a 9-3 lead.

Farnham's tactics of keeping the ball in the forwards proved effective in spiking the Irish backs' guns. But it was hard to see where a score was coming from as they repeatedly went to ground in the touch-line morass near halfway, while on the higher, drier left flank, Doran and Southwood waited in vain for a pass.

With 15 minutes left, it all changed dramatically as a well-rehearsed set-piece move deceived Irish and delivered the crucial try.

Number 8 Henry Ogram picked up on the blind side after a rock-solid scrum, slipping the ball to scrum-half Evans whose pass found Lewis breaking on the outside. Thick mud or not, his speed was electric and a perfectly timed pass sent right-wing Ian Heath flying over near the corner.

Rooney's remarkable conversion put Farnham ahead, but the home crowd's cheers turned to groans within minutes as Quinn put over a superb long-distance kick to restore Irish's lead, 12-10.

Rooney's first miss of the match followed and it seemed that Farnham's prodigious efforts would end in gallant failure.

But they refused to admit defeat and as the game edged into injury time, it was Irish's turn to crack under pressure, the referee penalising them after a grounded Adam Christie had taken a boot on the head.

No-one would have blamed Rooney if had missed the kick – given the range and the occasion. But over it went, sweet as a nut, and two vital points were within Farnham's grasp.

Even then, it was far from over. Irish kicked a penalty to within five metres, forcing a line-out with their throw to come. The drop-goal attempt was blocked and it was that man Lewis who picked up and ran the ball to safety just as the final whistle went.

Farnham: Adams, Christie, Mortimore, France, Baker, Falkiner, Brown, Ogram, Evans, Rooney, Southwood, Payne, Doran, Heath, Lewis. Subs Cambell, Cranstone, Hobson.

The celebrations continued long and loud and London Irish, old friends of Farnham, made it a night to remember in the clubhouse.

"We could have floated a navy on the Guinness sold," remarked Farnham president Roger Christie. "It was a terrific victory in our 25th anniversary year and probably Farnham's best ever. The kicking was outstanding on both sides and I thought the best team did shade it. After all, we did score the try."

Farnham's destiny is now in their own hands. If they win their remaining games against Old Paulines (a), Old Walcountians (h) and Old Tiffinians (a), they will be promoted as champions. If they finish runners-up, they will face a play-off against the side that comes second in Hampshire 1.