Doncaster staged an astonishing fight back and almost snatched victory in the dying minute after trailing 3-0 at Cambridge with 34 minutes left on the clock.
It looked as though Cambridge were at last coming to beat the jinx which saw them take only two points from their last four games at the Abbey Stadium as they completely dominated the first half.
Shane Tudor worked a brilliant one two with David Kitson to get them off to a great start in the ninth minute, and Kitson got a second in the 36th minute after good work from teenager John Turner.
Kitson was given the freedom of the six yard box to head the third from Stuart Bimson's free kick in the 55th minute and it looked as good as over.
And, even when Francis Tierney pulled on back in the 57th minute, it looked like no more than an inconvenience for the home team.
But it was suddenly a different game six minutes later when Mark Albrighton blasted a power header through the packed penalty area to make it 3-2.
Cambridge caved in as Rovers went for the equaliser and they drew level in the 75th minute with a thunderous 30 yard drive from Tim Ryan.
Cambridge were hanging on for a point after being on top for almost an hour and looked set for an embarrassing defeat when Andy Duncan tripped Ryan three minutes from time.
But Paul Barnes tried to place his spot kick instead of going for power giving Shaun Marshall the chance to dive to his left to push the ball past the post.
Angry Cambridge boss John Taylor failed to attend the press conference and it was left to skipper Stuart Bimson to comment.
He said: "We were fired up to make it up to the fans after losing to nine man Mansfield on Saturday, and it is so disappointing not to win when you have been 3-0 up. They just threw things at us and we failed to cope." Doncaster boss David Penney said: "It was a great fight back but we shouldn't have put ourselves in that position. We didn't start playing till we were 3-0 down but at least we showed great spirit once we hauled ourselves into the game.
“It would have been a fairy tale ending if the penalty had gone in, but it was a very good away point."