Bhaichung cheered Sikkim from the team bench on Friday

New Delhi: Inspired by the presence of Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia on the team bench, Sikkim scored a dramatic 4-3 win over Orissa in a preliminary round match in the Santosh Trophy while Punjab went on a goal scoring spree in the second half to beat Chhattisgarh 5-0 on Friday.

In the day?s other matches, Meghalaya rallied from two goals down to beat Tripura 5-2, Karnataka edged past Haryana 1-0 and Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh played a 1-1 draw.

Sikkim scored in the last minute to pip Orissa when right winger Awashes Subba ran through two defenders before unleashing a right footer from the top of the box for the winner in a fast-paced cluster VII match at the Chattrasal Stadium.

The goal also nullified the hattrick by Orissa?s Saroj Das, who was instrumental in bringing his team back into the match twice.

Nilanchan Deman (45, 75) scored a brace while under-17 national team captain Ong Tsheing Lepcha completed the tally for Sikkim. Das? strikes came in the 31st, 69th and 81st minutes.

Bhutia, however, said he would make an appearance in Sikkim?s second and final league match against Pondicherry on Monday.

Bhutia, who has been recovering from a knee injury, said he had resumed training a week back and was thinking of playing for 10-15 minutes on Monday.

Bhutia, who had won the Santosh Trophy four times playing for Bengal, is set to make his first appearance for Sikkim and was all praise for the All India Football Federation?s decision to make top players play for their native states.

?It is a very good move. I am very happy to play for Sikkim. In fact, it is one of the biggest motivations for me to play for my state and do well.

?While I played for Bengal there was always pressure to win at any cost but with Sikkim we are trying to build a team,? he said.

Bhutia had earlier said he would prefer for Sikkim if the state made it to the semi-final stage.

In a cluster VI match, Karnataka rode Xavier Vijaykumar?s 66th-minute strike to go past Haryana.

The final scoreline, however, failed to reveal the sheer dominance of Karnataka, who were denied a much bigger victory by Haryana goalkeeper Mukesh Patwal and the luck as at least three long rangers rebounded off the goalpost.

Punjab woke up in the second half to outplay Chhattisgarh in a cluster V match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex. Chhattisgarh held the favourites goalless at the break but they caved in after the break with Punjab skipper Gurjit Singh Atwal opening the scoring at the hour mark.

But Chhattisgarh again defended doggedly for the next 23 minutes before Baldeep Singh doubled the lead. The second goal took the fight out of the Chhattisgarh boys who conceded three more goals before the final whistle. Substitute Manjit Singh scored twice in the 40th and 41st minutes and Parveen Kumar completed the rout in the last minute.

Against Meghalaya, Tripura were sitting pretty following a double strike by striker Swapan Rai in the fourth and 24th minutes. After changing ends, William Kmwi slipped past the defenders to equal the score at 2-2 in the 62nd minute. This clearly rattled the Tripura players as meghalaya scored three more goals. Roding Sangma (64th) Edmund (79) and Aiboklang Kharpran (87) completed the tally.

Sandip, Dipak to return

Goalkeeper Sandip Nandy and defender Dipak Mondal are returning after failing medical test on Friday. Tollygunge Agragami custodian Chinmoy Banerjee will replace Sandip in the Bengal squad. (PTI)