Minehead AFC were left ruing missed chances as they played out a goalless draw against Imperial.
A win would have seen the ninth-placed side leapfrog their Bristol-based opponents.
The Blues made a bright start to the game, with two early attempts on goal.
Andy Hall's ambitious 30-yard shot in the first minute forced a save from Imperial's goalkeeper Joe Harper.
Soon after, top scorer Toby Waghorn tested Harper again with a close-range effort.
A controversial yellow card was shown to Minehead's Matty Ronan for a seemingly innocuous first challenge.
But Ronan was soon back in the thick of things, delivering a perfect cross to Waghorn, whose shot cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and bounced on the goal-line, only to be denied by backspin.
The game's intensity was highlighted by the fact that no Imperial player touched the ball inside Minehead's penalty area until 20 minutes in, leaving Greg Turner, Minehead's goalkeeper, largely untroubled.
However, as the first half wore on, Minehead lost some of their early momentum, and the game became more evenly contested.
Influential defender and captain Kai Long had to be substituted just before half-time, which ended goalless.
The second half saw Minehead on the attack again, with a powerful Waghorn shot blocked by a recovering defender.
Harvey Henderson's 35-yard effort narrowly missed the target.
Despite having 60-65 per cent of possession, Minehead were nearly punished late in the game when an Imperial striker, with an open goal at his mercy from 10 yards out, shot wide.
The final chance of the game fell to Minehead's Guy Burns, who volleyed over the bar from four yards out.
Minehead will have been disappointed not to have taken all three points, but will take positives from the game as they prepare to travel to face bottom-of-the-table Keynsham Reserves next weekend.
Their opponents have only one point to their name but have several games in hand having only played five league matches so far.
Minehead will be hoping for a repeat of their 8-1 win over Keynsham earlier in the season.
Their starting lineup against Imperial consisted of Turner, Bertie Harvey-Larmar (who was named man of the match), Morris, Louis Burge, JJ Knight, Hall, Ronan, Henderson, Waghorn, Burns, and Fin Harran, with Zak Dibden coming off the bench.
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