On a night when Stephen Baxter's side restored a little continental pride for the Irish League they came from a man and a goal down to miss a penalty and grab a stoppage equaliser to give them a superb chance of progressing in Skopje next week.

Indeed, the Crues could justifiably have won this first leg tie given the long spells of possession they enjoyed against their Prva Liga opponents.

David Rainey tested 'keeper Kristijan Naumovski as early as the 11th minute with a low drive from a corner while Marty Donnelly later delivered the ball from the right with only a collision between Colin Coates and Chris Morrow perhaps preventing one of them from turning the ball home.

Rabotnicki defender Bobi Bozinovski had the ball in the net at the end of the first half only for it to be ruled out offside but, just two minutes after the restart, the same player made no mistake with a shot in off the post after collecting a Dusan Savic pass.

Worse was to follow for the Crues on 68 minutes when Northern Ireland defender Coates was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident with the aforementioned Savic.

The numerical balance was restored with three minutes remaining, though, when Naumovski received his marching orders for hauling down Jordan Owens inside the area.

Referee Asaf Kenan pointed to the spot but, unfortunately for the Crues, while Donnelly's penalty beat substitute 'keeper Martin Bogatinon it also rose too highly and clipped the crossbar before going over.

But Crusaders weren't to be denied the equaliser. It duly arrived just as the game moved into added time when Donnelly swept the ball over from the left for Rainey to nod into the net from around six yards out.