What then, was surprising was PNB's inability to tone down the loss with at least one goal in the second half. But they were, despite their impressive line-up, one step slower when it came to the crunch. In any case, Viren Meetei and Pramod Rawat showed glimpses of their old form though striker Bhupinder Thakur was never allowed much room by a solid N. Rly defence.

In any case, Vimal Thapa, who has warmed to his new role as striker after a long stint as City Club's dependable medio, struck the first blow with a header from the left flank that just about managed to slink into the net.

Buoyed by that initial lead, and with an inspired Lalit Singh coming into the field, N. Rly could have consolidated their lead in the first half had Singh's long ranger not missed the crossbar.

With time running out and a shaky Deeku Lama under the PNB bar, N. Rly continued the onslaught and Lalit Singh finally got lucky when he toed in after a well planned foray by Shyam Kumar from the left flank.

In the next few minutes, Harish Bisht and Symon Peter too went on the front foot but missed the net narrowly. But Harish was rewarded in the dying minutes when he beat an onrushing PNB custodian rather easily to make it 3-0 for last year's runners-up. Biswanath Deb, the lanky N. Rly goalkeeper was his usual confident self today and did his bit for the team, while Bhupender Sharma too impressed. Later, in another quarter-final clash, Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) put out Food Corporation of India (HQ) 3-1 via tiebreaker after being locked goalless at the end of full time. Though both sides could have swung it without going into extra time, the forward lines ran into trouble. FCI's Bikramjit Singhtook a fine shot which was saved by ESIC custodian Anil.

In the tie-breaker, Surender Singh Bisht, Thao Appo, and Hukum Bahadur thapa scored for ESIC while skipper Zullfiqar converted the lone goal for FCI (HQ). Dinesh Pal Rawat, Pushpinder and Bikramjit Singh missed.