The former Irish international Brian Rigney never doubted that Buccaneers could overturn a six-point deficit following a disastrous home playoff leg and win a place in Division One of the All-Ireland League.

But he could scarcely have hoped for such an inspirational performance from a heroic pack which steered the Athlone-based side to a resounding victory at Dungannon on Saturday.

Rigney himself used all his experience and tactical know-how to make a massive contribution to the 11-point aggregate win which sends Dungannon plunging to relegation, going over for a crucial second half try which capped an imposing personal performance.

"We worked very hard for this, we put in a huge effort and we came here confident we could pull it off despite losing at home," he said. "We felt the breaks didn't go our way last week. We didn't get the result our performance deserved, and we felt it was well within our capabilities to come up here and win.

"We tried to keep in behind their back three, and not play into their hands like we did last week to a certain degree. There were no individuals, it was an all-round team display, and it was a great result to come up here and win."

Rigney reaffirmed the ambitions of the All-Ireland League's newest Division One club, and confirmed that the search for fresh talent begins immediately. "We will be looking to strengthen our squad over the summer months, starting from now." A daunting task faced a Buccaneers side which had to win by at least seven points to make it to the big-time, but they set about their mission with a refreshing zest and, crucially, a pack which was fired up and mentally focused for what was to prove the crucial battle of brawn.

The Connacht side's huge front eight powered their way through 80 minutes of heroic endeavour, with Noel Mannion, Rigney and Mark McConnell covering themselves in glory. It was burly prop Jimmy Screene who thundered over for the opening try on 14 minutes, Eamon Molloy adding the conversion, before Ashley Blair kicked Dungannon's only points of the first half from a penalty.

Buccaneers pressed forward relentlessly in the second half, going further ahead with a Molloy penalty. And they stunned the home side with a second try 13 minutes from the end, Rigney getting the touchdown at the end of another powerful surge by the pack. As their confidence grew, winger Mike Devine made up for an earlier handling error which cost him a certain score when he raced clear on the right wing, kicking ahead to go in for an immaculate try.

Now ahead by 17 points on the day and by 11 on aggregate, Buccaneers lapsed briefly to let substitute Alister Hood in for an injury time try, converted by Blair. But there was still time for some more fireworks from the visitors, and centre Gareth Johnston set the seal on a historic triumph with another try, converted by Molloy.

Dungannon: R Morrow; R Cowan, A Redpath, A Clarke, R Carey; A Blair, S Bell; B Morrow, M Patton, G Leslie, C Simpson, K Walker, John Hastings, P Curry, Jeremy Hastings. Replacements: P Girvan for Jeremy Hastings, C Farrell for Patton, A Hood for R Morrow.

Buccaneers: T Stuart-Trainor; M Devine, C Gormally, G Johnston, R Lee; E Molloy, P Lynch; J Screene, J McVeigh, M Whelehan, M McConnell, B Rigney, D Rigney, O Brennan, N Mannion.

Referee: A Lewis.