PIRATES wrote a new chapter in the club’s history books, but left a bit of space for an addition, with a major semi-final clean sweep at Ken Chillingworth Oval on Saturday.

The Buccaneers’ chest of treasures now includes grand final appearances in two weeks in all four grades and a first ever home grand final.

That was achieved by first grade’s 19-7 win over Narrabri and iced the cake of what was already an historic day in the club’s history.

They were hosting their maiden major semi-final, and made the most of the home advantage, with first the U17s prevailing 25-17 over Inverell, then their U19s knocking off minor premiers Gunnedah in a very tight

tussle 9-8.

James Trappel landed all nine of the Buccaneers’ points, nailing his third and most crucial just a couple of minutes from the final whistle to put them into the lead.

The Buccaneers seconds then earned a shot at defending their title, coming from an early try deficit to overrun Narrabri 17-10.

“It’s just unbelievable. It’s what we were always praying for,” a thrilled Buccaneers president Kelvin Collyer said.

“All into the major semi, all straight into the grand final, and at home.

“Just being able to bring it home for the first time since 1962 (when the club started) is great.”

The Buccaneers’ home turf has also been something of a fortress.

“We haven’t been beaten at home this year in first grade, and I think we’ve only had one loss in reserves and one loss in the U19s,” Collyer said.

The first grade victory put them into their first grand final since 1996.

“I’m just absolutely ecstatic. I sat down with Andrew O’Halloran in November last year, and Andrew said ‘we’ve got a chance to dominate this competition. There’s no reason we can’t win the grand final and host it here, and have all four grades in,” Buccaneers coach Garry Walsh said.

It was a vision that glittered into reality on Saturday.

• For more on the rugby action turn to page 25.