New manager Martin Allen has shaken things up at Whaddon Road with five new signings in under two weeks since taking over and his new look team gave a good account of themselves against newly-promoted County.
New loan signing Stuart Fleetwood took only 32 minutes of his debut to find the back of the net.
Running onto a laser-guided pass from midfielder Alex Russell, he took the most delicate of first touches to bring the ball under control before rolling a shot from the edge of the area beyond County goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams.
That goal was the highlight of a scrappy first half in which County kept possession well enough without really going anywhere.
Prior to the goal, Cheltenham had another good chance of the same making when Russell's long through ball was taken down by Fleetwood, but this time the on-loan Charlton Athletic marksman shot wide.
The second half proved far more entertaining for the 3,796 crowd with County striker Peter Thompson stooping to head in an Anthony Pilkington cross 10 minutes after the break.
It was a very open game at this point with both sides battling for the initiative, but Cheltenham got the next break when Fleetwood was hauled down in the box by goalkeeper Williams.
Scott Murray's initial penalty was saved and his follow-up header hit the crossbar, but on-loan West Ham youngster Josh Payne followed up to force the ball over the line.
County hit back strongly in the last 15 minutes but it took them until the final seconds of the 90 to draw level again.
Left-back Jim McNulty crossed from the left, defender Gavin Caines could only flick the ball on and Raynes arrived at the far post to head in a late but deserved equaliser.