Santosh Trophy quarter-finalists

Hosts Tamil Nadu, former champions Goa and Manipur booked quarter-final berths with easy victories in the 63rd National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy on Sunday.

Tamil Nadu rode on the goals scored by Muthu, Riju and Kulothungan to thump Haryana 5-0 at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Chennai.

Meanhwile, in another pre-quarter-final match at Tiruchirapally, Goa blanked Mizoram 3-0, courtesy goals from Joaquim Abranches (44th minute) and Marcus Mascarenhas (58th and 63rd).

At Thiruvallore, former champions Manipur beat Railways 3-1, while Maharashtra edged past Kerala by a solitary goal in a close contest in Coimbatore.

For Manipur, Reisangi Vashum (40th, 79th minute) and Subhash Singh (19th) scored while Nalanda Chakravarthy reduced the margin in the 80th minute.

Maharashtra depended on Kuttimani Sampathkumar's quick reflexes to score in the 83rd minute and beat Kerala 1-0 and also make the grade.

Tamil Nadu, Goa, Manipur and Maharashtra joined four directly seeded teams -- last edition's winners Punjab, runners-up Services and two semi-finalists Karnataka and West Bengal -- in the last eight league round which begins on Tuesday.

Punjab, West Bengal, Manipur and Tamil Nadu make up Group A while Services, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa form the Group B.

In the quarter-final league matches, starting on Tuesday, Manipur takes on Punjab while hosts Tamil Nadu plays West Bengal in their first quarter-final league matches at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The next day, Services will lock horns with Maharashtra while Karnataka meet Goa.