ADAM Murray had to settle for a draw in his first home game in permanent charge of Mansfield Town as they were held 1-1 by Cheltenham Town.
Vadaine Oliver's second goal in a Stags shirt had put his side in front early in the second half.
But despite being in control for much of the game, the Robins levelled through substitute Zack Kotwica late on.
Boss Murray made five changes from the side which drew 2-2 at Cambridge United in the FA Cup.
Sascha Studer was ruled out with a thigh injury, so Nottingham Forest loanee Dimitar Evtimov replaced him between the posts, with youth team keeper Adam Bishop named on the substitutes' bench.
Defender Martin Riley missed out with a tight hamstring, being replaced by Luke Waterfall, while Kieron Freeman stepped in at left-back as Lee Beevers dropped to the bench.
Junior Brown started on the left wing and Fergus Bell in an attacking midfield role, taking the places of Rob Taylor and Rakish Bingham.
Murray received a warm reception when he was introduced to the crowd prior to kick-off, and his side made a bright start against the Robins.
Although they struggled to carve out clearcut opportunities in the first half, the hosts showed plenty of promise, stringing together some nice passing moves and doing their best to apply the pressure.
Inside the first five minutes, Simon Heslop and Reggie Lambe had combined well, with the latter's shot deflected wide.
It was Brown though, who seemed the most likely to make something happen as he enjoyed an impressive home debut.
His low cross from the left hand side, just past the ten minute mark, found Vadaine Oliver in the box, but the front man took his time to get a shot away and Cheltenham dealt with the danger.
Another Brown cross shortly after took a deflection, which, for a moment, caught keeper Trevor Carson off guard.
The visitors gradually worked their way into the game though, and Evtimov thwarted a close range effort from Terry Gornell, with the follow up hitting the side netting.
For all their possession, Stags had been unable to fashion any real chances, a drive from Chris Clements from outside the box in the 26th minute as close as they came.
It was Cheltenham who finished the half the stronger and could have taken the lead.
Evtimov blocked a decent strike from Kane Ferdinand with his legs, before Waterfall cleared the rebound effort from off the line.
And just before the break, the same player drew another good save from the keeper as Evtimov pushed away a fierce strike from outside the box.
Mansfield continued to have the edge in terms of possession after the interval, and Brown tried to make it count with a well-struck effort from the left hand side of the box, which was deflected behind.
Barely 60 seconds later, with 55 minutes on the clock, the breakthrough finally came. And it did so in style – Oliver beating Carson from almost 30 yards with a superb strike which dipped and dropped beyond the keeper.
The Robins looked to respond with a free-kick from Matt Richards, only for Evtimov to prove equal to it.
And Mansfield continued to control the second half, with Heslop letting fly from range, though he was unable to trouble the keeper.
Goalmouth action nevertheless, was in short supply as the match developed into a midfield battle.
The Robins had spells of pressure, and looked to step up a gear in the final 15 minutes, but Murray's men held firm.
Still, they could do little about a fine half-volley from Kotwica, who grabbed an equaliser with two minutes to go when he beat Evtimov from range.
MANSFIELD: Evtimov, Sutton, Tafazolli, Waterfall, Freeman (Beevers 46), Lambe (Taylor 80), Clements, Heslop, Brown, Bell (Bingham 88), Oliver. Subs not used: Bishop, Rhead, McGuire, Palmer.
CHELTENHAM: Carson, Deaman, Brown, Taylor, Braham-Barrett; Ferdinand, Hanks, Richards (Haworth 64), De Vita (Sterling-James 64), Harrison (Kotwica 72), Gornell. Subs not used: Gould, Black, Williams, Dale.
ATTENDANCE: 3,324 (155 away).
