Welsh Premier champions TNS were beaten 4-1 by Cardiff Met on a humbling Sunday afternoon in the capital.

A goal from substitute Greg Draper in the dying moments was far too little, too late for the Saints after first half strikes from Met's Rhys Thomas and Sam Snaith had put the home side in control at the break before Snaith grabbed his second of the game to put the tie beyond doubt in the 53rd minute. The scoreline took on the feel of a rout when Chris Baker took advantage of some loose TNS defending to slot home a fourth with a low strike from the edge of the box.

Saints will take few positives from the clash, although Greg Draper's neat finish after latching on to Danny Redmond's pass made the scoreline look slightly more respectable, and things might have been different had Ryan Brobbel's chip dropped underneath the cross-bar, instead of striking it, with the score at 2-0 just before half time.

"It wasn't a good day for us," admitted Simon Spender, speaking to the club's YouTube channel after the final whistle.

"We started the game okay but after that we were just sloppy today, we gave the ball away far too much but they took full advantage and got their goals.

"[The manager] is extremely unhappy but he's got every right to be, we've set high standards over the years and since I've been here there's not been many teams that have turned us [over] and scored that many goals against us.

"It's hard to take but it's still early in the season so there's a long way to go and we'll just put this down to a bad day."

The result was TNS's second defeat of the season, having lost 1-0 to league leaders Connah's Quay in August, leaving them two points behind the Nomads after eight games.

Cardiff Met boss Christian Edwards said it proved his team could beat anyone in the division.

"It's nothing more than our performances have deserved over the past four or five games where unfortunately we've lost and personal errors have cost us, but today you saw a squad with key individuals missing that could beat any team in the league."