Struggling Cheltenham squandered a two-goal lead at high flying Chesterfield to miss out on a vital three points.
Damian Spencer looked to have sealed the win for the visitors with a second half double but the Spireites, with two goals in the space of a minute late on, claimed an unlikely share of the spoils.
The home side started brightly and almost went ahead after five minutes when Mike Simpkins nearly directed a long pass past his own keeper, but the ball rolled inches wide.
The rest of the opening period was largely forgettable, but the game burst in to life ten minutes after the restart when Spencer fired Graham Allner's men ahead.
The big striker pounced to turn in another teasing cross from man of the match Martin Devaney and 15 minutes later Spencer doubled his side's lead when he drilled a low shot past Andy Richmond in the Chesterfield goal.
That should have made the game safe for moments later Shayne Bradley hauled Chesterfield back in to the game when he stroked the ball home form the edge of the penalty area.
Seconds later defender Stuart Howson broke Cheltenham hearts when he headed past Steve Book from Marcus Ebdon's corner.
Five minutes from time Spencer had the chance to claim a hat-trick and win it for the Robins but he blazed high and wide after he was played in by Alsop.
After the game a down hearted Allner said: "I'm more than disappointed, points are so hard to come by in this division that you can't just throw them away like we did today.
"I'd have taken a draw before kick off but in the end it was two points dropped.
"They say in football that you are at your most vulnerable just after you have scored and that's what happened to us today, the players are as gutted as I am." Chesterfield boss Dave Rushbury said: "In the circumstances I am happy with a point. We were poor for 70 minutes but showed a lot of character to bounce back and could have won it in the end.
"That's four points for us over Christmas and that's not a bad return. We have to start creating more chances, but we showed what we can do when we show a bit of spark."