STEVE Ward says he would love to see Canvey lift the county cup a decade after they were last crowned champions of the competition.

The veteran defender was part of that famous Gulls team which beat a weakened Dagenham & Redbridge 6-1 in the final at Roots Hall.

Unsurprisingly, Ward, who turns 41 this month, is the only member of the current squad to hold that distinction.

And the man they affectionately call the “Ginger Sex God” at Park Lane says he would love to see the current crop replicate the class of 2002.

“As far as I am concerned it is a major non-league honour to win this cup,” said the man who has appeared in nine Essex Senior Cup finals — a record in the competition.

“So it would be great for the current side to win it and have something to show for a lot of hard work this year.

“It won’t be easy against Colchester because I know they’ve been putting out good sides in the competition this year.

“But we showed in the semi-final against Daggers that we can beat good sides, and anything can happen in a cup final.”

Ward, who made his 450th appearance for Canvey this season, played in all three of their county cup wins between 1999 and 2002.

And he recalls fondly the last of those against the Daggers when he took his place in a Jeff King side which included John Kennedy, Lee Boylan, Ben Chenery and Neil Gregory.

He said: “Dagenham were going for the Conference at the time and they put out a weakened side against us with quite a few kids in it.

“And they had Neville Southall in goal; he was their goal-keeping coach at the time before he came and did the same role with us.

“It was quite even at the beginning of the game but then we took control, and to be fair I think it was only Neville who kept it down to 6-1!”

Ward has been hit by injury again this season and revealed he plans to leave the club at the end of the current campaign.

But he says he would love to get a chance to be involved in one more great night for the club.

He said: “I have been on the bench in recent weeks so hopefully I will be involved in the squad.

“And I’d be happy if I just get 20 seconds to be honest because it’s always nice to play in a major final.”