Queen of the South slipped up 2-1 at home to Cowdenbeath and slid out of the top three.
An injury-time goal from Sean Higgins gave Cowdenbeath the win in a dramatic finish after Queens thought they had salvaged a point through an 86th-minute Derek Lyle header.
John Baird looked to have unlocked the Cowdenbeath defence with a strike midway through the first half which brought a stunning save from Robbie Thomson, who played a big part in Cowdenbeath's victory.
Calum Gallagher, on loan from Rangers, put Cowdenbeath in front after 41 minutes with a well-taken goal.
The home side applied considerable pressure in the second half. Ian McShane thundered a free-kick against the crossbar and Thomson produced some heroic goalkeeping.
He leapt to get his fingertips to a long-range strike from Lyle and was on his toes later in the half to block a Mark Durnan header. Lyle finally found a way past him with four minutes left and, at that stage, it looked as if the least Queen of the South would get would be a point. Higgins had other ideas.
The Dumfries side now cling to fourth spot as fifth-placed Falkirk closed the gap with an impressive 3-0 win at Dumbarton.
Rory Loy's composed finish in the 11th minute gave the Bairns an early advantage which they ought to have added to in a first-half they dominated.
After the restart, Dumbarton should have levelled when Scott Agnew's shot was cleared off the line by Luke Leahy, with Falkirk goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald stranded.
Instead Blair Alston doubled Falkirk's lead, prodding home in the 80th minute to round off a slick move involving Loy and Craig Sibbald.
The latter pair combined again three minutes later, Loy feeding Sibbald to lash past the helpless Danny Rogers.
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