Trey Charles' stoppage time header rescued a draw for Rugby Town at Butlin Road despite a dominant performance over Shepshed Dynamo.
Charles' 95th-minute strike ensured the points were shared but the hosts were still left feeling disappointed at dropping two points after missing countless key chances in the second half..
Town's opening eleven showed just one change from the one that had started the comfortable FA Cup win over Stone three days previously, with Tayo Tucker back in for the injured Barry Fitzharris.
Rugby started brightly enough, with Hilton Arthur and Harrison Nee both sending in threatening crosses, but the first real chance of the game fell to the visitors when Jenson Cooper blazed over the frame after he had got in behind the Rugby back-line.
Valley continued their early promise though, with Tucker performing a neat turn and shot - only to see the pace taken off it by a defensive block, and then Nee missed a great opportunity to open the scoring when his low strike from close range was kept out by the feet of Dynamo keeper Alex Akers after Arthur had chipped the ball into him.
Charles's high inswinging corner was headed away from under the crossbar by Cooper, with the resulting near-identical corner from him also causing Shepshed problems - requiring another headed clearance from Cooper to save the day.
It was therefore against the run of play, that the visitors took the lead after sloppy play in the middle of the park from Town led to Connor Furey finding some space on the right-hand side and his high shot was parried away by Paul Hathaway - only to fall to Kyle Dixon just inside the box, and he expertly curled the ball into the corner of the net.
Another Charles corner - this time to the near post - was flicked goalwards by Josh Thomas - only to be blocked away as Rugby looked for an immediate response, and then Charles scooped one over the bar, after Tucker had dangerously surged into the penalty area.
Another Charles effort was off-target, as was Ryan Sahota's strike from the edge of the area after he had interchanged well with his central midfield partner Ethan O'Toole.
James Shaw did lift a decent chance over the bar for Shepshed after they had broken quickly, before a scrappy - and at times fractious - end to the first half ensued.
Town were back on their game after the restart though, and nearly equalised when Arthur's teasing cross was somehow helped over the bar by Nee at close quarters.
Charles was then blocked out after good build-up play from Sahota, before Valley finally grabbed a deserved leveller when determined work from Edwin Ahenkorah saw him play in Arthur, who delivered another excellent cross that this time was headed home by Charles.
Town nearly made it two shortly after with a fast-paced counter-attack which saw Tucker surge to the by-line to pull the ball across to Nee, whose effort from close range was once more smothered away by Akers.
However, it was again the visitors that scored against the run of play when Nee handled a cross from Theo Sackey-Mensah and Dixon grabbed his second of the game from the spot - despite Hathaway getting a hand to the penalty strike.
It was pretty much all Town for the remaining half an hour or so, and they created chance after chance in this time.
Ahenkorah's shot from the edge of the area was deflected off his own man Charles into the path of Liam Francis - who lifted the ball over the bar, and then Charles's shot on the turn bobbled wide, after sub Mikey Taylor had fed him in the box.
Dan Summerfield's floated cross was controlled by Taylor before he went down claiming a tug on him, but this was rejected by the referee, with fellow replacement David Kolodynski lifting one over the bar and Francis heading Ahenkorah's cross straight at Akers as the opportunities for an equaliser continued to come for Rugby.
Madundo Semahimbo also put one high and wide of the target, with Taylor's header to a Thomas deep cross another to clear the bar - with further claims for a push in the striker's back again rejected.
Taylor was then denied once more by a good save from Akers after he had ran onto Thomas's long header, with Francis heading another into the arms of the busy Shepshed stopper and Kolodynski sending a free-kick marginally over the bar.
A third Town appeal for a penalty for a pull on Kolodynski was turned down, before the hosts finally gained just reward for their efforts in the fifth minute of added-time when Hathaway launched a free-kick into the box from near the halfway line, and Francis headed it on for Charles to display excellent technique in heading it past Akers for his fifth goal of the season.
Valley Line-up: Hathaway; Summerfield, Ahenkorah, Thomas, Francis; O'Toole, Sahota; Arthur (Taylor 65'), Nee (Semahimbo 74'), Tucker (Kolodynski 74'); Charles. Subs not used: Rai, Osoimoejiokhian. Bookings: Thomas, O'Toole.
