In a scrappy Conference encounter it was always going to be defensive mistakes that would yield goals and so it was to prove.
The first half proved to be a period where neither goalkeeper was to be severely tested.
The first real opening came on 18 minutes, when a clearance from a Gravesend corner fell to Rob Owen. The Fleet midfielder was denied by a sharp goal-line clearance from Martin Foster.
Forest Green responded almost immediately. Richard Kennedy produced an excellent left-foot drive which passed narrowly over Paul Wilkerson's crossbar.
A yellow card followed for Rovers' Kevin Langan after he brought down the charging James Pinnock, but only the close attention of his team-mates prevented what could have been a straight red.
Andrew Drury, starting his first game for Fleet, saw a wayward 25-yard drive pass over the crossbar before Forest Green suffered a double blow.
Damon Searle and Langan clashed heads in trying to clear the same ball. Searle eventually headed towards the tunnel clutching a dressing to the right side of his face, while Langan followed with a cut above his left eye.
The remaining ten minutes were played with Forest Green a man down until the second half, Adi Adams replacing Langan before the break.
Searle returned with his head in a bandage at the start of the second half, but Neil Grayson had to forego his offensive role to become an emergency centre-half.
Within five minutes of the restart substitute Adams might have given Rovers the lead, but Wilkerson was sharp to come off his line and block the shot.
A rash of yellow cards then followed. Grayson was booked for a foul on Drury and Foster following with a similar offence on the same player.
Drury was then to have a goal ruled out for offside, but the Fleet midfielder made amends on 70 minutes when he stabbed home a cross from the right by Pat Gradley.
Gravesend grew in confidence after the goal, but Forest Green stuck to their task and never panicked.
They gained a valuable point with the equaliser in injury time. Searle crowned an eventful debut by firing a free-kick into the area. Grayson caused panic amongst the Fleet defence and Brodie gleefully dispatched the ball into the net from eight yards.
Colin Addison declared himself satisfied after the game. The Forest Green manager said: "We were good value for a point although we left it very late." Fleet manager Andy Ford was also reasonably satisfied: "We didn't put on a performance like we did at Stevenage or Hereford. Although it was never pretty, today was always going to be one of those games."