Steve Elliott nudged Gillingham nearer the League One trap door with a spectacular 84th minute equaliser.
The central defender stayed forward after a set-piece and unleashed a 25-yard shot which gave Derek Stillie no chance as the ball flew into the top corner.
It was a hammer blow for Gillingham, who needed a victory to revive hopes for avoiding relegation, as they battled hard to protect a 38th minute lead.
That goal came when the impressive Nicky Southall found space to cross from the right and John Nutter got forward for the far post to score with a bullet header.
Rovers could have been three up before then but were let down by poor finishing.
Their home record this season is very poor and remains the reason why they are in the wrong half of the table.
As early as the second minute Craig Disley failed to make contact with a David Pipe cross and, six minutes later, Sean Rigg blazed over with only keeper Stillie to beat.
Another opportunity went begging on 12 minutes when Joe Jacobson produced a fine cross from the left and Rickie Lambert's header was finger-tipped to safety by Stillie.
The goalkeeper denied Lambert again on 28 minutes, but four minutes later Gillingham almost broke the deadlock when Georges Ba struck the crossbar with a header.
A richly entertaining first half ended with Stuart Lewis' shot for Gillingham being well saved by Steve Phillips and the crowd had been well entertained throughout the opening 45 minutes.
The second half was not as good but Lambert again failed to beat Stillie from Stuart Campbell's quick free kick on 61 minutes.
It looked as though Gillingham were going to get the three points that they desperately needed as they chased and harried their opponents all over the pitch.
But there was no answer to Elliott's superb strike and now the visitors have just two games left in which to preserve their League One status.