THERE was no joy for Bala Town from their capital investment.

The Lakesiders headed south to Cardiff Met for their latest spot of action in the Cymru Premier League and it was the hosts who claimed the three points via a 1-0 scoreline.

A close encounter was anticipated, with both teams occupying spots in the top-six.

Going into the match, Bala were sitting third and they made a promising start, with Luke Wall having an opportunity after some good work by George Newell.

Soon after, Dave Edwards' free kick was on target and it forced a good save from Alex Lang.

With time ticking on, Newell got his head on Wall's superb delivery, but he couldn't direct his effort beyond Lang.

Just before the break, there was another chance for Newell, who hit a shot just past the post.

The second half witnessed plenty of drama.

Cardiff Met had a glorious opportunity to take the lead when they were awarded a penalty, but this was brilliantly saved by Alex Ramsey.

However, the official adjudged the penalty had to be retaken and Eliot Evans made it 1-0.

Bala thought they had levelled soon after with Wall's effort, but the linesman said the ball hadn't crossed the line.

Newell was just off target with a strike on 78 minutes and with nine minutes left, Bala were reduced to 10 men as skipper Chris Venables was sent off.