Barnhall is tantalisingly close to the realisation of a dream, although the scars of yesteryear are still livid and counsel caution. On Saturday the Kildare club will attempt to confirm a place in the All-Ireland League Division Four for next season, and in doing so achieve senior status.

No official celebrations are planned, there will be no tempting fate. Instead, the focus remains on the final match in the AIL qualification series against the Connemara All Blacks. Victory - Thomond would have to win by a sizeable margin against Dromore to pip them - would almost certainly guarantee a place among the elite and the culmination of a four-year roller-coaster ride. Even in defeat there is the probability of a play-off with the team that finishes last in Division Four, but Barnhall don't want to have to fight for the scraps.

Director of rugby Eddie Fitzgerald, who founded the club in 1969 and acted as captain in the club's first match, admits that the success achieved in recent seasons has surpassed all expectations.

"If you were to conduct a straw poll four years ago and trawled around Leinster to see what clubs would have had the potential for senior status, we would not have come in the top 10." Fitzgerald addressed the a.g.m. of the club in 1996, putting before them a five-year plan that would take the club into the senior ranks: they were then languishing in division three of the Leinster Junior League.

On Saturday his vision may be realised, helped by the unstinting support of the local community.

Making the senior ranks would represent a far cry from humble origins. Barnhall was spawned at the Irish Meat Packers, a factory which employed over 1,000 people, although less than a dozen played rugby.

The owners approved the use of adjoining land, erecting posts, but that was to be their only contribution. Conditions were primitive, and few clubs relished a trip to Pearsonstown where the stench of the abattoir assailed the nostrils. "People used to look down on us and it was partly our own fault," says Fitzgerald.

The factory closed down in the mid-1980s and despite the exorbitant price of £7,000 per acre, Fitzgerald offered to buy the land. A clubhouse was constructed, but the financial constraints of the venture finally came to a head six years ago when the sheriff arrived one Sunday afternoon and removed all the furniture.

St Mary's, a local GAA club, heard about their neighbours' plight and lent some chairs and tables. That sense of community has remained with Barnhall, and they enjoy a close working relationship with their GAA neighbours. Equidistant from the huge satellite populations of Celbridge, Lucan and Leixlip, the scope for recruitment is staggering.

Barnhall have placed an emphasis on underage structures and thrived in that area of the game as a result. The club fields 14 teams: four adult, five from under-20s to the under-13s, and in mini rugby offer competition from the under-8s to the under-12s. Fitzgerald is quick to pay tribute to former Trinity, Terenure and Old Belvedere full back Ian Morgan who acts as player-coach. "Ian has been superb for the club from the underage teams to the senior XV."

Morgan's philosophy of involving all 15 players in a defined style appealed to player and official alike and despite his relative inexperience in coaching terms, secured his appointment.

Benefits are tangible, not least in the fact that props Sam Cawley, Warrick Bowden, captain Eoin Burke and former Belvedere centre Myles O'Reilly played for the Leinster Juniors this season. The club's most famous son is current senior international Trevor Brennan, who learnt his rugby at Barnhall before heading for Bective Rangers when he was 17.

Time permitting, Brennan attends as many Barnhall games as possible and is an enthusiastic supporter of the club. Brother Ronnie will be in the panel of 21 for Saturday's game.

Win or lose, Fitzgerald confirmed that the playing facilities will be revamped during the summer. "We are hoping to spend £100,000 on draining and laying four pitches. The main pitch will be untouched, but with 14 acres available it is hoped to lay three more and an area for mini-rugby. We have applied to the Leinster Branch for a grant to meet half the expenditure."

And so to Saturday's game. "We would never count any chickens before they are hatched, so we have nothing officially planned. We are aware that Thomond can still pip us and that Connemara represent a very tough challenge. It is the biggest game in the history of the club. If we win then we will certainly celebrate in style, but at the moment celebrations are not the priority.

"There is a new five-year plan, a pretty radical one, but I am reluctant to talk about that prior to the weekend. Suffice to say that it will not overlook the underage structures."

An illustration of the affection in which the club is held in the community is the expectation that 1,200 will attend Saturday's game.

Irish rugby needs more Barnhalls, clubs with the vision, drive and character to ensure that rugby can be a game for all.