Margate assistant manager Matt Longhurst tips Kai Garande to play another 100 games for the club after chalking up his century in win over Crowborough

Assistant manager Matt Longhurst has backed ton-up left-back Kai Garande to play another 100 games for Margate.

Garande brought up his century in Gate’s 2-1 Isthmian South East victory over Crowborough at the weekend and was presented with a commemorative shirt by the club.

He’s the sole survivor from last season as Longhurst and new manager Jamie Coyle put their stamp on things at Hartsdown Park following their summer move from Whitstable.

“It’s a brilliant achievement. You don’t see that much any more because a lot of players chop and change clubs,” said Longhurst, reflecting on Garande’s milestone.

“It’s been tough for him because he’s the only one left from last season’s group but he’s started to get an understanding of what we do.

“He’s a great lad, with a great attitude, and fair play to him because he’s in a new group and he suits the profile of what we want to do.

“He’s a good age, too, so he can stay here and hopefully he can play another 100 games. There’s no reason why not.

“He wasn’t on contract and he now is. We really liked him from afar, so if we’d stayed where we were, we’d have tried to sign him because he lives in Whitstable.

“He’s one we’d kept our eye on and we had his name written down, the same with bringing Tariq (Ossai) in from Faversham. They were on the list we wanted to bring in anyway.”

Margate visit Peacehaven & Telscombe in the FA Cup preliminary round on Saturday (3pm).

Longhurst and Coyle led Whitstable on a history-making run to the final qualifying round last season and are looking to make an impact at their new club.

The pair are set to watch the first half of Peacehaven’s Isthmian South East game at Merstham tonight before catching the end of Margate’s training session.

“The FA Cup’s