Ballintubber (Mayo) 0-6
Tourlestrane (Sligo) 0-5
Cillian and Diarmuid O'Connor were the difference as Ballintubber edged out Tourlestrane in a low-scoring Connacht club SFC quarter-final at Quigabar in west Sligo.
Cillian scored 0-5 from frees, while younger Diarmuid notched his side's other point in a man of the match display as the Mayo champions progressed with a huge sigh of relief to a semi-final meeting with Leitrim's Aughawillan.
Tourlestrane were determined to make amends for their early provincial exits in 2016 and '17 at the hands of Castlebar Mitchels, but they trailed by 0-0 to 0-2 after 16 minutes with Cillian and Diarmuid O'Connor on the mark for the visitors.
Cillian O'Connor added his second free in the 22nd minute before Cathal Henry's injury-time point left the Sligo kingpins trailing by 0-1 to 0-3 at the interval.
Eamonn O'Hara's charges had wind advantage in the second half and twice narrowed the gap through Henry and Oisin Kennedy points before O'Connor's fourth free gave Ballintubber a 0-5 to 0-3 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Shane Dunne left the minimum in it again before receiving a red card for a challenge on Ruaidhri O'Connor. Cillian O'Connor and Henry traded points thereafter, but Tourlestrane couldn't muster an equaliser and they finished the game with 13 players after Adrian McIntyre picked up a second yellow card in injury-time.
Ballintubber - B Walsh; G Loftus, C Hallinan, B Murphy; D Coleman, M Plunkett, R O’Connor; J Gibbons, D O’Connor (0-1); C Gavin, A Dillon, A Plunkett; B Walsh, C O’Connor (0-5f), S O’Malley. Subs: J Finnerty for S O’Malley, P O’Connor for C Gavin, M Kelly for G Loftus.
Tourlestrane - A Broe; C Neary, B Walsh, B Kennedy; O Kennedy (0-1), A McIntyre, J Leonard; S Henry, P Harte; A Dunne, C Henry (0-3, 1f), S Dunne (0-1); G Gaughan, J Marren, J Kelly. Subs: J Quinn for G Gaughan, C Surlis for J Marren, L Gaughan for J Quinn, C Marren for S Henry.
Referee - P Neilan.
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