Tamil Nadu, who had topped Cluster E, thanks to sparkling performance by striker Syed Sabir Pasha, snatched two snap goals in the third and 17th minutes through Jestus Antony and playmaker Hamilton Bobby to numb Punjab. Striker Manmohan Singh (23rd minute) reduced the margin for Punjab. Sabir Pasha struck for a 3-1 lead (69th).

Punjab were first reluctant to play having arrived only a day before the match. Their coach Jagir Singh said they did not know that they had to take the field today. But a fax from All India Football Federation (AIFF) insisted that Punjab had to play, having been intimated well in advance.

Tamil Nadu, who had lost to Punjab on home turf when the two played in the semis in 1994-95, caught the Punjab defencenapping in the third minute.

In a three-pronged move, Jestus Antony bulged the net off playmaker Hamilton Bobby's feeder.

The hosts then forced another snap goal. Running down the left flank Hamilton Bobby's adroit play came to the fore again. AS Sreekumar, who replaced Selvakumar in the line-up, fed him a forward pass. Bobby, tailed by defender Balwinder Singh, lobbed a deceptive left-footer into the net, 18 yards from the target. The advancing Punjab goal-keeper Jasbir Singh was stunned.

Punjab reduced the lead six minutes later as, breaking loose off a move running down the middle, Manmohan Singh beat Tamil Nadu goal-keeper Sebastian Netto. The ball fed by captain Kuldip Singh came off Tamil Nadu defender Kumar's failure to trap it confidently.

The pressure easing a bit, Punjab could afford to force a few good counters.

Ten minutes before halftime Harjinder's weak right footer could not beat the Tamil Nadu custodian at the goal mouth.

The equaliser continued to elude Punjab. But it was TamilNadu, who stunned the Punjab defence, with a three-pronged move for their third goal.

Manipur qualify

UDHAGAMANDALAM: Formidable Manipur struck two goals in a span of two minutes to show the doors to a fighting Andhra Pradesh in the Santosh Trophy here today.

Though the first session was relatively incident-free, the second saw some rough play. Medio Yapang received the red card for committing a foul on Kerala's Sunny.