SINGAPORE (29 Jan 2012) – A solitary striker from Liberian import Francis Forkey Doe gave Terengganu the full three points as they carved a hard fought 1-0 win over LIONSXII at the Jalan Besar Stadium last night.
It was LIONSXII second loss of the season and which has pushed them down to seventh in the 14-team Malaysia Super League 2012.
“We played below expectations and I believe we have many young players who are tasting raw football at this level for the first and second time, and the injuries to key players did not help us,” said LIONSXII coach V. Sundramoorthy.
“Terengganu on the other hand, had experienced players and good foreigners and they played well today. We will now have to see how we can reshuffle the team after reviewing the injuries that were picked by the player.”
Despite having the Lion’s share of the possession and chances, the homesters just could not make a difference although Firdaus Kasman came the closest in the first half.
But towards the tail-end of the match, a long ball from midfield in the 78th minute threw the Singapore defence into disarray and that allowed Doe to find the space to slot the ball home.
“We created a few chances in the first half and second half. And when Francis got his first chance, he got a goal and that was good for us. I think the one thing that the LIONSXII team is missing, is experience. And we knew their style of play which is to play long ball,” offered Terengganu coach Mat Zan Mat Aris.
In the meantime, Kelantan still controlled the pace at the top of the Malaysia Super League 2012 with a 3-0 over Kelantan as T-Team fell 2-1 at home to Selangor.
CURRENT MALAYSIA SUPER LEAGUE 2012 STANDINGS
| No | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Kelantan FA | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 13 |
| 2 | Terengganu FA | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 12 |
| 3 | Perak FA | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 12 |
| 4 | Negeri Sembilan FA | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 8 |
| 5 | Selangor FA | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 8 |
| 6 | PBDKT T-Team FC | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 7 |
| 7 | Singapore LIONSXII* | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 8 | Johor FC | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 6 |
| 9 | Felda United FC | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 6 |
| 10 | Sarawak FA | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 11 | Sabah FA | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 5 |
| 12 | PKNS FC | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 |
| 13 | Kedah FA | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 2 |
| 14 | Kuala Lumpur FA | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 1 |
