Izale McLeod broke his 14-month goal drought to bag a brace as 10-man Millwall picked up a battling point at Stockport County.
Striker McLeod, signed on loan from Charlton until the end of the season, last scored on 15th December 2007 for The Addicks in a 4-2 defeat at West Brom.
Having ended his barren run with goals in the 17th-minute and then a 53rd-minute penalty, McLeod looked to have put The Lions well on the way to victory on Saturday.
But this Edgeley Park thriller was turned on its head following the 68th-minute dismissal of Millwall winger Dave Martin for his second bookable offence.
Stockport substitute Matty McNeil reduced the arrears 11 minutes from time before Oli Johnson hit the leveller with a massively deflected shot just four minutes later.
However, for the second game in succession, Kenny Jackett's men had every right to feel aggrieved.
At Leeds United on Monday Jermaine Beckford struck two goals for the Yorkshire side, having escaped punishment for an elbow on Lions keeper David Forde that subsequently earned the striker a three-match ban for violent conduct.
At Edgeley Park Johnson - the man who struck Stockport's late leveller - should not have been on the field of play having seen an ugly stamp on Tony Craig inexplicably go unnoticed by the officials. A more blatant red card offence you are unlikely to see.
It was very much a day of mixed emotions for Millwall.
On the down side both winger Martin and defender Andy Frampton are now both ruled out of Tuesday's home game with Swindon and Brighton respectively, the latter having picked up his fifth booking of the season.
On the plus side, whilst they had 11 players, Jackett's side were more than a match for their play-off rivals and with Leicester, Scunthorpe, Peterborough and Leeds all dropping points, this could prove crucial come the final shake-up in May.
The opening half was a fairly quiet affair, punctuated only by a smart 17th-minute finish from McLeod from a tight angle to put The Lions ahead.
Little could the Edgeley Park crowd have anticpated what was to follow though in a full-blooded second half played at a breathless pace.
Millwall doubled their tally eight minutes after the restart when McLeod was sent sprawling by keeper Owen fon Williams. A yellow card was brandished to the County man, but the real damage was inflicted by McLeod, who stepped up to calmly convert the resulting spot-kick.
When Johnson and Craig challenged for the ball just two minutes later, the Stockport man's crude stamp went unpunished. Not so for Lions winger Martin after 59 minutes. Having been booked in the first half for a clumsy tackle, he was then shown a second yellow card for an equally soft challenge to leave The Lions a man down with half an hour to play.
That proved to be the turning point and with the huge phsyical presence of sub McNeil adding some punch to the County attack alongside Chris O'Grady, it was the home side who started to turn the screw.
Lions keeper Forde did well to tip over a Michael Rose free-kick with an almighty goalmouth scramble also testing Millwall's defensive resolve.
But when McNeil finally found a way through to reduce the arrears with 11 minutes remaining, it was always going to be a real backs-to-the-wall effort by the Lions 10 men.
Unfortunately it was Johnson who enjoyed another huge slice of luck. Even though he should arguably have been in the dressing room and not on the field of play, Johnson saw his 84th-minute left-foot shot take a wicked deflection and loop up over the head of Forde before dropping into the back of the net for County's equaliser.
Even then The Lions were twice denied a winner. Frustratingly referee Russell Booth waved away a clear foul in the first of five injury-time minutes when McLeod was hacked down in the area, just as he had been for his 53rd-minute penalty.
Then in the dying seconds keeper fon Williams produced a fine double save to deny McLeod and sub Scott Barron as Millwall pressed unsuccessfully for a last-gasp match-winning third goal.
Stockport County: Owain fon Williams, Johnny Mullins, Michael Rose, Dominic Blizzard, Chris O'Grady, Gary Dicker, Tommy Roe, James Tunnicliffe, Leon McSweeney, Matty Mainwaring (Matty McNeil, 60mins), Oli Johnson. Subs not used: Paul Turnbull, Lloyd Rigby, Josh Thomson, James Vincent.
Bookings: fon Williams (52mins), Mullins (56mins)
Scorers: McNeil (79mins), Johnson (83mins)
Millwall: David Forde, Alan Dunne, Andy Frampton, Zak Whitbread, Tony Craig, David Martin, Adam Bolder, Jimmy Abdou, James Henry (Scott Barron, 71mins), Izale McLeod, Ashley Grimes (Neil Harris, 61mins). Subs not used: Lenny Pidgeley, Chris Hackett, Marc Laird.
Bookings: Frampton (48mins), McLeod (57mins), Martin (59mins), Forde (90+mins)
Sending off: Martin (68mins)
Scorer: McLeod (17mins, 53mins (pen))
Ref: RJ Booth
Att: 5,461
