Chennai, June 06 2009: Tamil Nadu scored thrice in six minutes as they defeated Manipur 3-1 in the quarter final league match of the 63rd National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy, at the Nerhu Stadium, Chennai, on Saturday to enter into the semi-finals.

Manipur's best chance to score came in the 7th minute as Subhas Singh dribbled past two defenders but his shot posed no threat for Sathish Kumar.

With two shots taken at Tamil Nadu's goal, the hosts pulled up their socks and in the 27th minute Riju shot was handled by Manipur defender Thomas Singh inside the box and immediately referee Andrew Shekhar awarded Tamil Nadu a penalty.

Muthu capitalised on the situation well caught Mani-pur custodian Lokeshwor Singh on the wrong foot to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute.

Tamil Nadu strikers Riju and Muthu combined well upfront and three minutes later the strikers had an open net chance but both of them failed to find the back of the net.

Muthu was back in action in the 34th minute as he scored his second goal of the evening as Thomas Singh's back pass to Lokeshwor Singh was intercepted by Muthu who dribbled past the Manipur custodian to extend the lead to 2-0 .

A minute later an unmarked Muthu scored his hat trick as he received a cross from Mohan Raj and the striker chipped the ball over Lokeshwor Singh as Tamil Nadu took a 3-0 lead.

The start of the second half had Manipur pulling up their socks and playing more aggressively.

In the 55th minute they pulled one back to reduce the margin to 3-1 as Bijen Singh 30 yarder right footer had Sathish Kumar diving in vain to the near post.

Playing a much more composed game in the second half Manipur got ample chances after reducing the lead but they failed to convert the chances that came their way as the match ended with Tamil Nadu pocketing three points.

While in the last quarter final league match of group A today, West Bengal dominated the game right from the start and went on to beat Punjab 2-1 to enter into the semi-finals.

Punjab who relied more on counter attacks hardly and any clear shot at the goal and they paid the price for not marking the Bengal players.

In the 33rd minute Bengal drew the first blood as Snehasish chipped the ball over Punjab custodian Karanjit Singh after receiving a cross from Suboh Kumar.

A minute later Snehasish was back in action but his shot was blocked by Punjab defender Anwar.

With a goal lead Bengal players played confidently and in the 40th but were unlucky.

A Lalanpuia cross had Biswajit Saha taking a shot at the goal but this time Karanjit punched it safely.

Two minutes later Bengal could have extended the lead but were unlucky as an unmarked Surajit Bose shot rebounded off the cross bar.

But they had a reason to smile at the half time mark as the score card read 1-0 .

Defending champions Punjab were a completely different side in the second half as they dominated the proceedings.

And in the 54th minute Ravinder Singh cross from the left was headed by Rakesh Masih to find an unmarked P Mahlima whose powerful right footer found the back of the net to give Punjab the equalizer.

As the match progressed Bengal got their acts together and started playing with short passes.

It was Lalanpuia who got the Bengal back in the game as in the 84th minute a Surojit Roy cross had Lalanpuia unmarked and the striker got the ball past Karanjit Singh to ensure that they secure a place in the semi-finals with hosts Tamil Nadu.

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