Striker Tridip Khound did the star turn with a delectable solo in the 35th minute to make it 2-0. Latching on to a pass from the right, Khound lengthened his stride, eased past a couple of defenders and deposited the ball home.

In the 67th minute, substitute Dipen Teron snatched on a chance set by Tridip from the right and left the defence chasing him. Dipen wasted no time and shot the ball confidently home.

Captain Naba J Yoti Talukdar made it 4-0 for the team with a rasping volley in the 77th minute. With only nine minutes left, Indra Pradhan saved someface for Sikkim with a crisp volley into the bulging net.

Manipur outplay Haryana

Udhagamandalam, March 21: Even a heavily-populated deep defence failed to rescue Haryana from the clutches of defeat today. Manipur, a bunch of teenagers, played the short ball, counter-attacked and punched holes through Haryana's disorganised defence to score a 2-0 win in a cluster F match of the Santosh Trophy.

Md Aziz-ur Rahman (60th) and Momocha Singh (89th) struck for the winners. ``The victory was commendable, as it was scored on a ground which was hardly conducive to ball control and speed,'' commented the Manipur coach Shanti Kumar Singh after the match.

The first goal was trigerred off by Momocha Singh, who broke away down the left, after snatching the ball from a rival midfielder and hooked it to Rahman at the left of the box. Closely marked by three defenders, Rahman transported the ball to Surchand, before moving up in time to meet the return pass.

Momocha made it 2-0 in final minutes, trapping aKiran Kumar pass in his stride, and stabbing it home past an advanced Machhender.

Orissa leave it till late

Chennai, March 21: As in life so in sport, hope springs up just when you seem to have lost faith. For well over 86 minutes, Orissa were all over Himachal Pradesh. Only they could not get any numerical endorsement to their domination. The sagging spirits came to life when the magical moment came.Orissa chalked a solitary goal win over HP today in a Cluster C match. Delhi began the afternoon proceedings on a high note striking a brace against Gujarat (Cluster C). The teams will square off again on Tuesday to decide the group winner, Meghalaya having pulled out.

Bhupender Thakur's left-footer was on course to lay the foundation, while Dharmender Kharola made it a double delight fastening on to a cross from Bhupender, well past the hour.

Short passes were Orissa's ploy to scatter the packed HP defence. The long balls were to the fore more as a surprise weapon, which won them the day. ImtiazMohammed saw the angle from the corner of his eye and, hey presto, was on target settling for the second post.