YORK Football Club completed a historic triple of titles on Sunday, adding the first-ever McKay Security St Thomas Under-17 championship to their major league title and south-east region play-off crown, which propelled them to a spot in next season’s Jamaica Football Championship, a rung below the Premier League.

Kaif Ritchie met a high corner, swung in from the left side, with an unstoppable header in the 116th minute, the last of three goals scored in extra time, handing York a 2-1 win over Danvers Pen for whom Dale Brown had equalised four minutes earlier after Jordan Reid had first netted in the 101st minute.

Urged on by an eager crowd at York’s Xpress Sports Complex, the home team afterwards basked in glory, a hard-fought match watched by Tye McKay, who congratulated the participating teams, tipping his hat to the finalists.

“Congrats to all the teams, especially those who made it to the final, York and runners-up Danvers Pen. It was a well-fought battle. They both fought with determination and should be proud of themselves.

“McKay Security is proud to invest in sports, especially the youth, who are the future of the community, the country, and Jamaica’s national football programme. My father, Dr Jason McKay, invests in many sports — martial arts, netball, pistol-shooting, dragon-boat racing — but football is a passion for him,” said the younger McKay, noting the firm’s $2.3-million sponsorship of the Under-17 league and $5.1 million, overall, of St Thomas’s football programme.

York pocketed $150,000 for their title win, whereas Danvers Pen picked up $80,000, third-placed Heartese $50,000, and Golden Grove $30,000.

Co-sponsoring the Under-17s alongside McKay Security, Restaurants of Jamaica provided nutrition support of $1 million by way of 21-piece buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken for each team on match days, including the final.

Lascelles Logan, St Thomas Football Association president, acknowledged that the parish’s junior players “may be a little behind those of Kingston and St Andrew and St Catherine”, but pointed to York, whose senior team topped the Jamaica Football Championship qualifiers ahead of St Catherine’s Cedar Grove and KSAFA’s August Town.

“York showed that we can conquer the powerhouses,” warned Logan, whose association now has two teams in the Jamaica Football Championship with York joining Baptist Alliance as Premier League prospects.