Trailing by two points at the break, Kevin Walsh’s men impressively rose to the occasion as they outscored the visitors by 0-10 to 0-4 and set up a semi-final showdown with Galway on Sunday, June 27.

Mayo manager John O’Mahony emptied his bench in an attempt to change the course of the game, but there was no stopping an increasingly dominant Sligo who had some rousing individual performances from Charlie Harrison, Johnny Davey, David Kelly and Alan Costello.

Both of these sides reached their respective National League finals, and you could argue that those games – Sligo’s Division 3 final victory over Antrim, and Mayo’s disappointing Division 1 decider against Cork, had quite a bearing on how this one panned out.

Mayo were seeking to bounce back from a 1-17 to 0-12 humbling at the hands of Cork, and they early signs were good.

The experienced Peadar Gardiner was brought into the visitors’ defence as a late replacement for stomach bug victim Chris Barrett, and Mayo made a business-like start with Championship debutant Alan Freeman scoring 1-1 in the opening seven minutes.

In warm conditions, O’Mahony’s charges had a billowing wind behind them and Freeman settled any early nerves with a point after just 24 seconds. Gardiner took up his regular role at wing back, and Donal Vaughan shifted to right corner back.

Sligo pushed the returning Eamonn O’Hara in to full-forward but he was brought back into defence as the first half went on, in an attempt to curb Freeman’s threat at full-forward.

The Yeats men fell further behind when a lovely, inviting ball from Andy Moran was taken down by Freeman and he was subsequently brought to ground by his marker Noel McGuire, leaving referee Jimmy White to signal for a penalty.

Freeman, who studies at Sligo IT, stepped up to fire the ball into the top left corner and give Sligo goalkeeper Philip Greene little chance.

The opening half was not of a particularly high standard and as Mayo missed a couple of chances – Ronan McGarrity and Conor Mortimer both failed to convert – Sligo began to settle.

O’Hara won a free off McGarrity which Colm McGee, one of two Championship debutants in the home side, dispatched through the posts and he also cancelled out a Mortimer score soon after.

Both sides had four wides by the midpoint of the half and Sligo, with their tactic of crowding midfield paying off, hit the next two points through free-taker Mark Breheny and defender Davey. The evasive Kelly was coming to the fore, making some intelligent runs.

Mayo were struggling and the path through to Freeman and the Mortimer brothers, Conor and Trevor, was being sealed off.

Tony Taylor and Stephen Gilmartin were having more of a say in centre-field for Sligo, but Conor Mortimer managed to end an 18-minute scoreless spell for the defending champions following good work by Freeman.

McGarrity and Alan Costello, a Mayo native now playing for Sligo, clashed off the ball as the midfield battle heated up and injury-time saw two further points, both well-struck frees from Breheny and Mortimer.

That left Mayo with a 1-4 to 0-5 advantage to take into the second period and still plenty of work to do, with Sligo turning around with the elements behind them.

The game was right in the melting pot but Sligo hit the ground running on the resumption, inspired by a brilliant block by Harrison as Enda Varley looked to squeeze a shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

Breheny and McGee tagged on a couple of frees to get Sligo back level at 1-4 to 0-7, but Freeman right-footed a free at the other end in the 46th minute.

The momentum was with Sligo, however, and they built attack after attack as they began to open up and create space for scores. Kelly evaded his marker to point off his right and Sligo moved ahead for the first time, in the 48th minute, when midfielder Taylor sent over an excellent score from 45 yards out.

As Mayo retreated into their shell, more and more Sligo players stepped up to the mark. McGee bent over a terrific free, using the wind to his advantage, and Davey and corner back Ross Donovan also came up with crucial plays.

Substitute Billy Joe Padden played a ball in for Freeman to grab a much-needed Mayo point, and Aidan O’Shea was introduced at full-forward shortly afterwards as O’Mahony tweaked his attack.

In and around the hour mark, Sligo really put a spurt on and it was effectively the winning of the game for them. A good feed by Kelly set up Gilmartin for a point, and Costello showed his native county what they are missing when he rode a challenge and thumped over a textbook score.

There was a nasty edge creeping into the game, with every ball being fought for in a pressure cooker atmosphere, and Mayo showed they were still in the hunt when Andy Moran cut inside Davey and fired over for 0-12 to 1-7.

Sligo’s response was immediate as Kelly was first once again to a long ball and his quick-fire point was followed by another superb left-footed effort from Costello.

Freeman, easily Mayo’s most effective player, took his tally to 1-4 with a close range free, but it was fitting that nippy corner forward Kelly finished off the scoring by pointing from a narrow angle, with the advancing Harrison involved in the build-up.

It will be a nightmare second half for Mayo to reflect on, and there was no late consolation for them to take into the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Mortimer hit a shocking wide and Andy Moran’s close range free, driven towards goal, was blocked by net minder Greene whose side will travel to Pearse Stadium in three weeks’ time with renewed confidence.

Scorers: Sligo: C McGee 0-4 (0-3f), M Breheny (0-3f), D Kelly 0-3 each, A Costello 0-2, J Davey, T Taylor, S Gilmartin 0-1 each

Mayo: A Freeman 1-4 (1-0 pen, 0-2f), C Mortimer 0-3 (0-1f), A Moran 0-1

SLIGO: P Greene; C Harrison (capt), N McGuire, R Donovan; K Cawley, B Phillips, J Davey; T Taylor, S Gilmartin; M Breheny, A Costello, E O'Hara; C McGee, K Sweeney, D Kelly.

Subs used: N Ewing for Harrison (60-62 mins, blood sub), S Coen for McGee (69).

MAYO: D Clarke; D Vaughan, G Cafferkey, K Higgins; P Gardiner, T Cunniffe, K McLoughlin; T Parsons, R McGarrity; A Moran, S O'Shea, T Mortimer (capt); C Mortimer, A Freeman, E Varley.

Subs used: BJ Padden for O’Shea (46 mins), A O’Shea for Varley (55), M Ronaldson for T Mortimer (61), B Moran for Parsons (64), K Conroy for McGarrity (67).

Referee: Jimmy White (Donegal).