Farnham Town won the Surrey Senior Cup final with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory against Merstham after the two sides played out a competitive 1-1 draw.

Jack Dean’s equaliser cancelled out Korrey Henry’s opener to take the tie to spot kicks, before Farnham held their nerve to win the county cup on penalties in front of a crowd of 969 at Meadowbank.

The opening 20 minutes proved to be a tight affair, with both sides probing for an opener but neither keeper called into action.

Town created a decent chance in the 25th minute when Billy Clifford clipped a cross into the box which found Owen Dean, whose header went just wide of the left-hand post.

Merstham went straight down the other end of the pitch and nearly took the lead when Henry’s powerful shot forced a smart save from Town keeper Michael Eacott at his near post.

Merstham went close again on the half-hour mark when Lee Lewis let fly from outside the box and Eacott had to parry his shot behind for a corner.

Lewis let fly again from distance on 39 minutes, although Eacott was easily able to hold his effort.

Town nearly took the lead in first-half stoppage time when Owen Dean wriggled into the box and cut the ball back to Clifford, but Clifford’s goalbound shot was well blocked.

Farnham manager Paul Johnson made one substitution at half-time, with Seb Bowerman replacing Kai Tanner.

Town started the second half brightly and almost went ahead in the 48th minute when Darryl Sanders’ effort went over the bar.

Merstham threatened three minutes later when Olu Lawal drove into the box before firing his shot into the side netting at the near post.

Merstham went close again on 52 minutes when Lewis’ volley from a tight angle went just wide of the far post.

Merstham took the lead in the 54th minute when Henry received the ball in the box with his back to goal and turned sharply before firing his shot past Eacott and into the back of the net.

Town almost got equalised on 58 minutes when the ball broke to Jack Dean in the box, but his effort was deflected over the bar for a corner.

Johnson made a double substitution in the 65th minute, with Adam Liddle and Rhys Murphy replacing Owen Dean and Sanders.

Town got themselves back on level terms on 70 minutes when Clifford’s corner picked out Jack Dean, who rose highest and buried his header into the back of the net past Merstham keeper Will Huffer.

Farnham nearly went ahead in the 78th minute when Clifford lined up a free kick and his effort flew just wide of the left-hand post.

Town went close again on 88 minutes when Bowerman let fly from outside the box, but his effort went just over the bar.

Merstham had a big chance to win the game in the 90th minute when Lawal was played in on goal, but Eacott was quickly off his line to close the angle and block Lawal’s effort.

Bobby-Joe Taylor let fly from distance for Farnham on 96 minutes, but his effort went wide of the right-hand post.

There was still time for a late chance for Merstham in the 98th minute when the ball broke to Olly Allen in the box, but he fired his effort over the bar as the final went to penalties.

Taylor was up first for Farnham in the penalty shoot-out and sent Huffer the wrong way as he fired his spot kick into the bottom right-hand corner of the net. Captain Matt Drage was up first for Merstham and calmly rolled his penalty past Eacott to make it 1-1 in the shoot-out.

Clifford took Farnham’s second penalty and scored his penalty via the inside of the left-hand post. Ryan Healy took Merstham’s second penalty and confidently fired his spot kick into the left-hand corner of the net to make it 2-2 in the shoot-out.

Liddle took Farnham’s third penalty and expertly picked out the bottom left-hand corner to put Farnham 3-2 up. Charlie Stallard was up next for Merstham and sent Eacott the wrong way as he picked out the bottom right-hand corner.

Murphy took Farnham’s fourth penalty and confidently found the bottom right-hand corner to put Farnham 4-3 up. Billy Oram took Merstham’s fourth penalty and sent Eacott the wrong way as he found the bottom right-hand corner.

Brandon Mason took Farnham’s fifth penalty and scored via the inside of the left-hand post, with Huffer getting fingertips to the penalty on its way in. Henry took Merstham’s fifth penalty and saw his effort saved by Eacott as Farnham won the county cup.

Next up for Farnham is a trip to Tiverton Town in the Southern League Premier South on Saturday, April 25 (3pm kick-off).