Darlington fought back for a draw after a sterling second-half performance that saw visitors Morecambe concede the two-goal advantage that they had gained by the interval.
But Darlo's promotion chances still appear to be dwindling as this was another far from convincing performance.
The home side looked like world beaters after the opening five minutes of the game. Where they went wrong thereafter is anybody's guess.
Possibly nerves set in at the importance of the fixture, but whatever happened the visitors dominated the game and deservedly raced into a two-goal lead.
The opening goal came in the 37th minute when Wayne Curtis danced into the area and Quakers captain Steve Foster stuck out a leg that Curtis was happy to fall over.
The referee pointed to the spot and Garry Thompson sent goalkeeper David Stockdale the wrong way from the spot. The home crowd were far from happy and things got even worse for the hosts a few minutes later.
Goalscorer Thompson outpaced defender Ben Parker down the right flank and his cross was met by the head of Jon Newby, six yards out, who made no mistake with a header that flew past Stockdale on the 40th minute.
Darlington needed a response in the second half. On-loan midfielder Jason Kennedy fired against the crossbar in the 52nd minute and Tommy Wright headed the rebound over the crossbar from no more than five yards out.
In the 64th minute Wright was injured and had to leave the field.
Darlington brought on Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu and he partnered Rob Purdie up front for the home side.
Six minutes from time and with the game slipping away from them, Darlington grabbed a lifeline when Kennedy picked up a knockdown from Richie Foran and fired in beyond Scott Davies from eight yards out.
The game was set up for a grandstand finish and in the dying seconds of normal time Ndumbu-Nsungu produced a marvellous equaliser as he cut inside from the left flank and drilled a low shot from the edge of the area that nestled into the bottom corner of the net.