Bru beauty! Skipper sets new record to cap off season of his career

THIS was a day to be in Brighton.

- By TYRONE MARSHALL

When the United players left their beachfront hotel on Sunday lunchtime, the area was already flooded with tourists and day-trippers making the most of the Bank Holiday sunshine.

United have earned the right to be on the beach this weekend. The fact that they delivered what might well be their most swashbuckling performance of the season is a feather in the cap of Michael Carrick and the players.

It was Brighton who had something riding on this game, but United who stepped up to the plate. On a day when one era in Manchester came to an end, this was the kind of display that gives encouragement to people inside Old Trafford that their own glory days aren't far away.

Their chances of turning a half-season of real momentum into something more tangible are enhanced by the fact that Bruno Fernandes looks certain to stay at the club into next season. Fernandes could have amused himself on Saturday by scrolling through the comments after he was named the Premier League Player of the Season.

The Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year is now the best player in the Premier League. The Professional Footballers' Association award could follow in August. If it does, bookmark Piers Morgan's social media accounts.