Ken Doherty delighted his home fans again last night to join Mark King in the Citywest Irish Masters semi-finals.
The Dubliner's match with Anthony Hamilton went down to the wire having started with a rare incident in the opening frame of the night.
Hamilton forced a re-spotted black after potting the last four colours. But then, attempting a thin cut into a middle pocket, he missed the black entirely to give Doherty a 1-0 lead on a foul.
Doherty doubled his advantage in frame two but when his Nottingham rival struck back in the third, there was never more than a frame between the pair all the way to the finish.
However, there was one further pivotal moment when Hamilton missed a red when just 39-27 behind in the 11th frame. It proved to be his final mistake and after 47 minutes of the decider and with midnight approaching, world number six Doherty fell over the line.
His 6-5 win means he plays Essex left hander Mark King for a place in Sunday's best-of-19 frames final.
Earlier in the day King, who has already knocked out Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White, defeated Glaswegian Graeme Dott 6-2.