Francis Forkey Doe's fine form continued on Saturday as he scored to hand high-flying Terengganu a 1-0 Malaysia Super League win over a wasteful LIONSXII.

The Liberian import bagged his fourth goal in three games on 79 minutes at Singapore's Jalan Besar Stadium, a strike that broke LIONSXII hearts and maintained his side's impressive start to the new M-League campaign.

In the end, however, it was a case of what could have been for LIONSXII, a hatful of dreadful misses forcing them to wonder how it all went wrong on a night when they should have breezed past a resilient, but far from their best, Terengganu side.

Without injured strikers Khairul Amri and Khairul Nizam, and only able to field first choice front man Agu Casmir after an hour, LIONSXII lacked any sort of killer instinct in the final third, a predatory nature that may yet prove to be their undoing in the rough and tumble of Malaysia's top tier.

During a first half dominated by V Sundramoorthy's charges, a trio of midfielders - Shaiful Esah, Hariss Harun and Firdaus Kasman - were left to rue glaring misses, all three blazing wide from close range when afforded time and space galore by a hesitant Terengganu defence. It was profligacy in the extreme.

First, Shaiful fired narrowly over Sharbinee Allawee's bar from eight yards, before Hariss somehow failed to turn home Shaiful's 15th minute free-kick when unmarked and only six yards out. Firdaus completed the hat-trick of first half howlers, again firing over Sharbinee's bar following neat LIONSXII approach play.

Not that chances were coming at the other end.

Before arriving in Singapore, Terengganu import Doe had vowed to punish any LIONSXII lapses.

Instead, the Liberian initially failed to shine, his first half attacking display as insipid as those of his colleagues who arrived in the island republic occupying second spot in the Super League standings and on the back of three consecutive victories.

The first 15 minutes of the second period followed much the same script as the first half. Both sides huffed and puffed, but failed to blow each other's houses down as a goalless draw looked ever more likely.

For their part, Terengganu appeared content to sit back and soak up what little pressure there was, while rising star Muslim Ahmad guided his fellow defenders with aplomb and Doe continued to disappoint. But not for long.

Only moments after Agu, put clear by Shahril Ishak's fine pass, had wasted another magnificent opportunity to break the deadlock, Doe struck.

The 26-year-old battled valiantly to retain possession in the LIONSXII penalty area, before - and amid calamitous LIONSXII defending - unleashing a left foot drive that nestled in Izwan Mahbud's far corner. This time, poor defending proved to be the Achilles heel for a now thouroughly dejected LIONSXII team.

It proved to be the decisive blow, a knockout punch that left LIONSXII reeling and will surely force them to examine their painfully obvious frailties in the business part of the pitch - sooner rather than later.