Sammy McIlroy, the new Stockport boss, was able to breath a huge sigh of relief as his side grabbed a last-gasp draw against fellow strugglers Notts County.
Goals from Darren Caskey and Clive Platt made sure the Magpies fought back from Aaron Wilbraham's opener.
But second-half substitute Rickie Lambert provided a delightful short corner to Jim Goodwin, who blasted in a rocket volley to earn his side a share of the spoils with one minute remaining.
Stockport dominated the first half and were unlucky not to go in front when Ali Gibb fired over after latching on to Wilbraham's clever chest down.
Six minutes later it should have been the visitors who broke the deadlock when Platt counted himself unlucky after his right-footed drive was superbly palmed wide by Hatters keeper James Spencer.
John Hardiker went close for Stockport in the 36th minute when his cross-cum-shot forced Notts County keeper Steve Mildenhall to athletically tip over the bar.
Kevin Ellison should have given McIlroy's side the lead six minutes before the interval, but he miscued after Stuart Barlow's ball from the left had been flicked on by Wilbraham, at the heart of County's best attacks.
But the home side's efforts paid off just one minute after the interval when Wilbraham brought the Stockport fans to their feet with a superb finish.
Barlow supplied a pin-point cross for the gifted hitman who, after cleverly cutting inside Notts County right-back Nicky Fenton, caressed the ball into the far right-hand corner with a lovely curler. County's lead was richly deserved.
And it should have been 2-0 in the 49th minute when Gibb crossed, but Ellison again missed out with a sliding effort, which evaded him and flew across the face of goal.
That miss signified the Magpies' comeback and when Dave Challinor struggled to keep up with Darren Caskey, who had been put through on goal by Platt, the former Spurs striker made no mistake in firing past Spencer, who dived in vain to his right-hand side.
And the Magpies should have gone in front when,two minutes later Paul Heffernan hit the bar after being put through by Platt, and then fired over from the second attempt, after his teammate had managed to somehow slot him through again.
At the other end Goodwin headed over for the Hatters and then Spencer got down well to snatch the ball from the feet of Heffernan, who had beaten the offside trap and ghosted free.
But Platt then stole a yard of space on Rob Clare and put the Magpies in front with a powerful low drive.
However, Goodwin was there to save the day with a shot he will probably remember for a very long time.