Footballing life couldn't get much better for Dereham Town forward Kenny Reeves, who has made his mark this year wearing an England number nine shirt and will be enjoying a USA tour before savouring a taste of Sky TV stardom.

Footballing life couldn't get much better for Dereham Town forward Kenny Reeves, who has made his mark this year wearing an England number nine shirt and will be enjoying a USA tour before savouring a taste of Sky TV stardom.

The City of Norwich School pupil is spearheading the England U18 Schoolboys attack in the Centenary Shield home international series, which sees England top of the table on goal difference after matches against Northern Ireland and Wales and with high hopes of finishing the job against Scotland and the Republic of Ireland - with both matches set to be televised live on Sky next month.

Reeves, who bagged the number nine shirt following final trials at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre at the end of January, wasted no time in repaying the faith shown in him by the selectors by scoring during one of the tour games in Malaga.

He was then delighted to net again in the opening Centenary Shield game at Crusaders FC where he generally proved a thorn in the side of his Irish opponents. England led 4-0 at half time with Reeves assisting in two of the goals and scoring after outpacing a defender and turning inside before calmly slotting past the keeper just before the break in the 4-1 win.

'It was a big thrill to score against Northern Ireland - I was very pleased,' he said.

Although the following game against Wales at Llanelli AFC ended in a disappointing goalless stalemate, England still top the table and Reeves is hoping to make further winning contributions against Scotland at Carlisle on St George's Day, April 23, before finishing the job in the final fixture against Republic of Ireland at Burton Albion FC on April 30.

But before the towering teenager can be let loose on the Auld Enemy, the 6ft 2in hitman has some business Stateside to sort - over Easter he will be in Atlanta for an 11-day training camp.

Reeves, who was on Norwich City's books as a youth, has also played for Norwich United since leaving the Canary Academy system and has been turning out for the Magpies in the Ridgeons League Premier Division this season.

Dereham manager Matt Henman said of the selection: 'It's fantastic. We think this is the first international honour for the club at any level.

'He is 6ft 2in tall and a natural finisher. If he can add a bit more aggression to his game he is going to be one hell of a player.'