Rowan Vine rescued a point for Colchester United, but they should really have bagged all three in a thriller against Brentford.
The Essex side were searching for their fifth league victory on the trot, which would have been the first time they had achieved such a feat since their days in the Conference in 1991-92.
But in the end, they had to be grateful for a cracking finish from Vine after 76 minutes to keep their unbeaten run going.
Karl Duguid swung over his 11th corner of the night and the Bees could only half clear as far as Vine, who found the back of the net with a ferocious 20-yard shot.
This effort cancelled out a bizarre opening goal from Brentford frontrunner Tony Rougier in the 36th minute, which he knew very little about.
Colchester left-back Duguid saw his attempted clearance from the edge of the penalty area strike the boot of Rougier and role 20 yards into a unguarded net, with keeper Simon Brown out of position.
It was bad luck on the U's but they had countless chances to run away with the game.
Before Vine's equaliser, the closest they came was when striker Wayne Andrews hit the foot of the post with a low drive, with Vine seeing his effort from the rebound superbly saved by Bees keeper Paul Smith.
In fact, Smith had a fine evening in goal for the visitors, making countless saves, especially from the impressive Craig Fagan.
Brentford, after a sticky start to the season, are now unbeaten in five league games while Colchester's unbeaten run is was extended to eight league fixtures.
U's boss Phil Parkinson, who was masterminded his side's climb up the table, enthused: "That's the best we've played all season."