Keane: Hails special triumph

Will Keane hopes the first-teamers are proud of the Reserves after a 2-0 victory in the Manchester Senior Cup final at the Etihad Stadium. Warren Joyce's side triumphed in the final game of United's campaign with the 19-year-old striker scoring his 19th goal of a successful campaign. Victory ensured the squad could celebrate lifting a trophy for the second Thursday in succession after last week's play-off triumph against Aston Villa. Keane produced a selfless display as a lone striker in a hard-fought success and also claimed the assist for Luke Giverin's injury-time clincher. Yet the centre-forward, who is linking up with the England Under-19 squad, felt it was not one of his better performances. "It's been another successful year," he told MUTV. "Capped off with another two trophies. I'm delighted as it's what we aimed to do at the start of the season. "You can see how much it means to the lads. The fact it's against City made it even more special. With everything that happened with the first-team last weekend, we wanted to make them proud. We've done that as it was a good, professional performance. "It wasn't one of my greatest games. I didn't have many chances but, when I got one, I took it. I didn't have the ball much in the second half but we defended well and saw it out. We knew City were going to be a strong team because we played them in the same competition earlier in the season and they play a similar way to their first-team with little players who are clever on the ball. We knew we weren't always going to have the ball so we stayed with the runners and saw the game out." When asked about the possibillity of going on tour with the Reds, although his participation could be complicated if England qualify for the Under-19 European Championship finals, he replied: "I always aim to keep improving and pushing on. "If that's the next step, so be it. But I'll just take it as it comes and do my best."