Darlington threw away a two-goal lead and had to settle for a share of the spoils after a lively encounter in which the home side ended the game with only nine men.
Struggling Darlington need every point that they can get if the are to haul themselves away from the foot of the table and after going 2-0 up against promotion hopefulls Scunthorpe the three points were almost in the bag.
Under new manager David Hodgson Darlington had failed to score but in this game they looked dangerous from the start and the visitors were kept on the back foot.
Tom Evans was the busier of the two keepers as Darlington went close through Barry Conlon and Neil Wainwright in the opening ten minutes of the game.
Craig James curled a 19th minute free kick goalwards and Evans was called into action again to keep his side in the game and then as the home side dominated Cliff Byrne was booked for a foul on Conlon, as the Scunthorpe frustration began to boil over.
Home defender Ryan Valentine fired straight at Evans in the 34th minute but then Evans was beaten four minutes later when Conlon broke clear before firing under the United keeper to open the scoring.
In the second half the visitors had a chance to equalise when on-loan striker Steven MaClean steered a Peter Beagrie cross narrowly wide in the 55th minute.
Darlington doubled their advantage three minutes later when Wainwright volleyed in from 15 yards after an Ashley Nichols cross was only half cleared.
The game turned on its head in the 67th minute when Scunthorpe defender Andrew Butler went down after appearing to be punched by Valentina, referee Tony Leake showed a straight red card to the midfielder and United scored from the following free-kick.
Substitute Steve Torpey fired in from close range in the 68th minute and suddenly it was Darlington's turn to panic.
Amazingly the home side were down to nine men ten minutes from time when again Butler dramatically went down, again clutching his face - this time thanks to a headbutt from Barry Conlon.
Conlon became the second home player to be shown a straight red for violent conduct, and a penalty kick was awarded against the Darlington striker. Beagrie fired the textbook spot kick into the roof of the net to give his side the equaliser.
United continue to push for an unlikley win, but could have no complaints after getting a point out of the game thanks to the undiscipline of the Quakers.