A dramatic, late equaliser from Harry McKirdy earned Swindon Town a point, after initially taking the lead through a first Swindon goal for Sean McGurk away to Gillingham on Tuesday evening.
Sean McGurk opened the scoring with a fantastic finish on his first Swindon Town start midway through the first 45.
Oli Hawkins got the Gillingham equaliser midway through the second half with a close-range header as both sides pushed for a winner in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Connor Mahoney put Gillingham ahead from the penalty spot with just over 10 minutes left to play before a late strike from Harry McKirdy gave his side a late point to travel back to Wiltshire with.
Following Saturday's home draw to Salford, Gavin Gunning made three changes to his previous starting line-up, with Sean McGurk, Jake Cain and captain Charlie Austin all returning in place of Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, Saidou Khan and Zach Elbouzedi.
The game started with Town forced to hold a strong defensive line and ride a bit of a storm with the windy weather conditions and also the Gills' early attacking threat.
But, having seen this early pressure through from the home side, Swindon began to step up the gears and find their rhythm that would see them finish the first half strongly.
The first Town chance came in the 16th minute, with Charlie Austin looking for the onrushing Jake Cain, who was inches away from getting on the end of the skipper's cross, with Gillingham's Jake Turner grateful to gather.
Seven minutes later, Swindon would get the opening goal and it was a special moment for recent addition Sean McGurk, who marked his first start with a rocket of a finish to give his new side the lead midway through the half.
Midfielder George McEachran played a brilliant ball over to Sean McGurk, who beat one Gillingham defender with a neat shift of the ball onto his left side before whipping the ball into the top left corner with a well-taken finish and marking a special moment for the youngster this evening.
This goal sparked an attacking threat for Swindon and soon, the chances began to open with McGurk almost grabbing himself a second a few minutes later.
Another well-worked move saw the wide man able to cut inside and look to whip an effort into the far right corner that was forced away in the nick of time by Gillingham keeper Jake Turner.
A composed moment of goalkeeping from Jack Bycroft saw the Town keeper able to kill off a moment for Josh Walker, who looked to latch onto a deep ball into the Swindon penalty area before a late chance almost saw Town able to come in two goals to the good at half time.
The ball was rolled through to Paul Glatzel who showed great composure to take it around Jake Turner, but as he looked to poke home, Gills defender Shad Ogie got back just in time to stop the ball from rolling quick enough into the Gills goal, leaving Turner to gratefully re-gather.
Half-time: Gillingham 0 Swindon 1
The second half started similarly to the end of the first, with an early chance created by half-time substitute Aaron Drinan, who picked out skipper Charlie Austin who did well to readjust himself and see his poked half-volley just over the bar.
Austin came close a minute later with another powerful effort before chances for both sides on the hour saw both look to take advantage in the final 30 minutes.
With Gillingham's Conor Masterson hitting the crossbar, Swindon countered and the unfortunate Paul Glatzel saw another goal-bound effort cleared off the line from a Gills defender for the second time in the game.
Harry McKirdy and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy were brought in just past the hour mark, with the former trying his luck from a 25-yard free-kick that whistled just past the near post.
However, two minutes later, Gillingham found the equaliser and it was through a close-range header from Oli Hawkins that brought the home side on level terms in the 67th minute.
Despite conceding the equaliser, Swindon had the game's next best chance in the 74th minute with Town seeing another opportunity cleared off the Gillingham goal-line for the third time in the game.
A deep cross from recent substitute Zach Elbouzedi reached fellow sub Harry McKirdy, as his volley bounced up and was cleared on the Gillingham goal-line by Gillingham captain Max Ehmer, with Swindon looking for a late winner.
However, it was, unfortunately, Gillingham who scored the game's next goal, with Connor Mahoney scoring from the spot after a strong run from fellow substitute Jorge Hurtado earned the Gills a spot-kick in the 79th minute.
Conor McCarthy had Swindon's next best chance late on as they pushed for a late equaliser that their overall performance deserved, as the defender met a Dawson Devoy corner which was unfortunately held by Turner.
But, there was to be one last twist with Harry McKirdy scoring his first goal since returning to SN1 on deadline day with a well-taken finish deep into six minutes of stoppage time.
With Town keeper Jack Bycroft looking to reach a later Swindon corner, the ball eventually made its way to the forward on the left-hand side of the Gillingham penalty area, as he struck a brilliant drilled effort that found the far corner and gave Swindon the minimum taking of a point that their overall performance deserved.
Following this result, they will now look to their next league fixture with the return to Wiltshire as Swindon hosts MK Dons on Saturday.
Gillingham FC: Turner, Clark, Masterson, Ehmer (C), Williams (Malone 74), Hawkins (Lapslie 83), Coleman, Ogie (Mahoney 45), Hutton, Dieng (McKenzie 83), Walker (Hurtado 45)
Goals: Hawkins 67, Mahoney 79 (P)
Subs not used: Morris, Nadesan
Swindon Town: Bycroft, Blake-Tracy, McEachran (Brewitt 84), Glatzel (Elbouzedi 69), McGurk (McKirdy 61), Cain (Drinan 45), Kokolo, Devoy, Godwin-Malife, McCarthy, Austin (C) (Hepburn-Murphy 61)
Goals: McGurk 23, McKirdy 90+4
Subs not used: Brann, Minturn
Referee: Declan Bourne
Attendance: 6,094 (264 away fans)
