Cheltenham boss Michael Flynn said he was “frustrated but proud” after seeing his 10-man side denied victory at Swindon by a late equaliser.
Town were 3-1 up but Swindon started to claw their way back into it when Kabongo Tshimanga tucked away a 67th-minute penalty in an incident which saw visiting skipper Tom Bradbury sent off.
Ian Holloway’s men then salvaged a point when captain Ollie Clarke slotted home in the 88th minute to make it 3-3.
Former Swindon boss Flynn said: “We shot ourselves in the foot over the penalty and the second yellow because at that point we were in full control and looking very good for the three points.
“But we give them an opportunity to get back into it and Ian’s got them in a very confident mood, believing and playing with a smile on their faces.
“So it was a battle and I’m glad we’ve come away with something but I can’t fault our effort, and togetherness. That was some team spirit.”
Jordan Thomas put Cheltenham ahead in the eighth minute with a fine goal but Swindon drew level on the stroke of half-time with a brilliant Will Wright free-kick.
The visitors reclaimed their lead through Timothee Dieng three minutes after the break before Wright’s own goal made it 3-1.
The turning point came midway through the second half as Cheltenham were reduced to 10 men when Bradbury was shown a second yellow for hauling down Harry Smith in the box.
Tshimanga reduced the deficit from the resulting penalty and Clarke levelled things up late on.
Smith then had a chance to win it for Swindon but Cheltenham goalkeeper Joe Day was alive to the danger and the visitors clung on, although the dropped points are a blow to their hopes of making the play-offs.
But Flynn said: “I won’t give up until it’s mathematically impossible. We’re gonna have to be close to perfect to do anything.
“But nobody’s quite grabbing it by the scruff of the neck so we just need to concentrate.”
Swindon could have drawn level on points with Cheltenham if they had won and manager Holloway was far from impressed after the match.
He said: “I can’t believe what I was seeing. And if that game has brought six goals, how on earth did it? Because it looked terrible, like both teams couldn’t get hold of the ball with it bouncing about.
“I’ve raised my voice a bit today, because it really annoyed me, because we’re better than that.
“You could say, wow, you came back but I’m expecting us to do that now.
“But you can’t expect to have to score four goals to win a game at home. So that’s two points dropped.
“I’m having a bit of a grumpy moment because time is ticking.”
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