Xahvi DeRoza scored twice and provided an assist as Warwick Football Academy triumphed 5-3 over Somerset Trojans in the Charles Marshall Cup final at PHC Field on Friday night.

DeRoza, the Warwick MVP, scored his first goal, the team’s third, in the seventeenth minute after Chance Eve and Alexander Rymon Lipinski had given the side a 2-0 lead. The 17-year-old netted his second in the 34th minute for Richard Todd’s side to be 4-0 up at half-time.

Somerset came out stronger in the second half with their MVP, Jace Donowa, Enrique Mendes and Isaiah Francis making the game 4-3, but Hayden Dill’s goal for Warwick eight minutes from the end killed off any hopes of a comeback for Coolidge Durham’s team.

Todd was pleased with the victory and felt that Somerset’s comeback was largely because of the changes he made with his team in a comfortable position at the interval.

“It was an exciting match for the players involved and the spectators,” Todd told The Royal Gazette.

“We started making rotations with players coming from the bench after taking a 4-0 lead. We made seven changes and sometimes that just disrupts the rhythm, but we felt that it was important to try and allow all the players to be a part of the experience in the final.

“But credit to Somerset, at one point when they looked like they were completely out of it, they managed to score. From there, their confidence grew, they continued to push and we had to get the starters back in.

“The fifth goal was really important for us because it stopped the momentum and the flow that Somerset had been building. It allowed us to take a two-goal lead and we just closed out the match.

“We rode our luck as well because it could have been easily 4-4. Somerset struck the post from inside the six-yard box on the scramble, so we were fortunate but that’s part of football.”

The victorious coach was delighted to be able to field players who spent the festive period in Bermuda before heading back to schools overseas.

“We have a number of players off island who have risen through our programme,’’ Todd said.

“They are serial winners and have won each of the age levels, so they’re very familiar with one another in terms of style of play.

“It was good to be able to see them coming back. For quite a number of them this is their last year of playing youth football in Bermuda, so for them to go out as winners is good.

“The future definitely looks bright for us and we just want to continue focusing on working with these young players and bringing them through.

“A large number of these players we’ll see again when they come back in the summer. That’s the beauty of the Charles Marshall Cup, it allows the players who are off island to play when they come home for Christmas.

“In the summer, those who have aged out will play in our under-23 programme when they come home.”

Goals from Kydan Browne and Christian Piney helped FC Bascome defeat North Village 2-0 in the Plate final. Khari Sharrieff was voted MVP for the winning side, while Cameron Porter took the accolade for Village.