Cray Wanderers midfielder Dean Morris has become the latest member of the team to reach a personal landmark of club appearances.

Morris, age 27, played his 200th game for the Wands at Worthing last Saturday.

A week earlier, striker Jamie Wood made his 400th appearance for the club in their FA Trophy 1st qualifying round tie at Tilbury.

The Wands beat Tilbury after a replay, but crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Worthing when they returned to Ryman League action.

That defeat is already a distant memory after the Wands found their form again on Tuesday night to win 3-1 at home to second-placed Folkestone Invicta.

Folkestone took the lead early in the game, but the Wands dug deep and produced some of their most powerful football of the season to move up to fourth in the table after goals from Tommy Whitnell (2) and Jamie Kempster.

Loyalty is a big key to Cray's success. Against Folkestone the Wands' midfield unit of Kempster, Morris and Wood numbered more than 800 Cray games between them.

Kempster has recently passed the 200 game mark in his six years with Cray. Morris joined the club five years ago, in their first season after gaining promotion from the Kent League into the Ryman League.

Intriguingly, next Saturday's fixture will see the Wands turning out at Worthing FC for the second time in seven days.

This time, Cray's opponents will be Horsham in the FA Trophy 2nd qualifying round (3pm).

The Hornets are currently ground-sharing with Worthing, a journey of 18 miles from their former ground in the centre of Horsham that has been vacated for redevelopment by its owners the local council.

The Wands have a tough challenge on their hands against a Horsham side that plays one level above them in the Ryman Premier Division, but they will be strongly motivated to make further progress in the FA Trophy competition, and also to erase their below-par performance on the Worthing pitch last week.

Morris has no doubt that the Wands can carry on where they left off after Tuesday night's much-improved performance when they defeated Folkestone 3-1.

"We had much better shape, every player in our team wanted the ball, and we responded in exactly the positive way that our manager and coach wanted to see from us."

The manager and coach Ian Jenkins and Joe Francis also embody the loyalty that is so key to Cray's recent success and the ability of their team to keep bouncing back after the occasional disappointment on the field.

Jenkins has been at Cray since 1993, firstly as a player and then as manager since 1998. Francis joined in 2002 and has proved to be an inspirational coach.

"There is a great team spirit here, and that's why players want to come to this club, and why they want to stay," said Morris.

If Cray should need a replay after Saturday's cup game at Horsham it will be at Hayes Lane on Monday night 3 November (7.45pm). If no replay is needed, the Wands will be away to Chipstead in the Ryman League on Tuesday 4 November (7.45pm).