Kilmarnock were dealt a sickening blow in the 94th minute as a victory against Hearts was ripped from their grasp.
Chris Stokes and Kyle Lafferty had fired the Ayrshire side into a 2-0 lead, but a Stephen Humphrys gave the Jambos life before Nathaniel Atkinson smashed home an effort four minutes into stoppage-time.
It was a crushing blow to Derek McInnes' side who would have fired themselves within three points of fifth with a victory.
Boss McInnes said: “We should have been managing the game better and been smart. I’m more worried by the first goal we conceded because the second one can happen – it’s an unbelievable strike – but I’m disappointed because I thought we’d done enough to win the game.
“Hearts had chances, we had chances. We took them on because we knew they were vulnerable defensively. They also have great attacking threats so it was about risk and reward and that risk almost paid off for us.
“We’ve had five home games now; we’ve beaten Motherwell and St Johnstone, drawn with Dundee United and Hearts and only Celtic have managed to beat us. Plus I felt we’d put in winning performances in both of those draws.
“But this is the Premiership and there are players who can do what Atkinson did so we need to try and guard against that. We had a chance at 2-1 when Oli Shaw was clean through, Craig Gordon was well out ofb his goal and he could have lifted it.
“That was a moment to stand on their throat and go on and finish the game but we handed them a lifeline. There are fine lines in these games but we’re good enough to win them.
It was an unchanged XI for Killie as they aimed to build on their win at home to St Johnstone on Wednesday night.
Hearts had a fantastic chance to take the lead after just three minutes when Lawrence Shankland squared a ball across the goal to leave the net gaping, but Barrie McKay somehow fired over much to the relief of the home crowd.
Four minutes later the hosts had a fantastic chance when Jordan Jones linked up with fellow winger Dan Armstrong by floating a cross on to the latter’s head, but his effort went narrowly wide.
Zach Hemming did well to keep the scores level in the 20th minute when Humphrys fired a shot at goal.
Blair Alston had a wonderful chance in the 27th minute when Armstrong fed it to him inside the box, but a tame shot left Craig Gordon with no worries.
Jones tried his luck five minutes before half time as he cut inside outside the area, but his curling effort went just wide of the post.
Killie fired themselves in front just after the break as Stokes fired home after an Armstrong corner.
Just before the hour mark Lafferty nicked the ball from Gordon in a massive blunder from the Scotland No 1, and the Killie striker was happy to tap home into the empty net.
But Hearts fired themselves straight back into it when Humphrys fired home from a tight angle.
Oli Shaw had a wonderful chance to restore Killie’s two-goal lead in the 67th minute as he found himself one-on-one, but rather than lifting it over the onrushing Gordon he hit it straight at him.
Hearts' pressure paid off in the dying minutes as they fired home an equaliser with almost the last kick of the ball thanks to Atkinson.
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