Dunfermline missed the opportunity to close the gap on third place as they succumbed to a defeat at home to Partick Thistle.
Harry Milne headed in a 12th-minute opener for Partick, who added a second from Brian Graham in the final minute of the first-half.
Matty Todd scored for the second game in a row to pull one back for the Pars with eight minutes of regulation time remaining.
However, a late equaliser eluded them, as their attack came up short against Thistle’s resolute resistance.
Defeat leaves the Fifers still in fourth in the SPFL Championship table but now seven points adrift of their visitors.
DAFC survive illness bug
Manager James McPake took the unusual step this week of cancelling training on Thursday in a bid to keep a bug from spreading further through his squad.
There were no places in the squad for Craig Wighton and on-loan Celtic youngster Ben Summers and Aaron Comrie dropped down to the bench.
But strong performances as substitutes against Airdrie from goal-scorer Todd and Alex Jakubiak earned them call-ups.
Sam Fisher returned after shaking off an ankle injury but, worryingly, lasted just 40 minutes before being replaced by Comrie following a painful collision with Milne.
Rhys Breen, another of the defensive triumvirate who have been unavailable, was named as a replacement following a hamstring problem.
A slow start
Dunfermline enjoyed a bright opening against Airdrie seven days previously and were well on top through the opening 45 minutes against the Diamonds.
But they failed to repeat that against Thistle and found themselves behind after just 11 minutes.
The visitors had posted warning with early errant shots from Aidan Fitzpatrick and Blair Alston.
And then Fitzpatrick was involved in the early breakthrough after taking a corner on the left short to Steven Lawless.
The winger arrowed in a cross to the back post and Milne outmuscled marker Josh Edwards to head into the roof of the net.
Pars threaten a comeback
Dunfermline could have been level just a minute later as Jakubiak bustled his way forward after taking a pass from Michael O’Halloran.
But the former Dundee striker pulled his eventual shot across goal and wide of the upright.
A Paul Allan shot was blocked in the 29th minute and Ewan Otoo‘s long-range effort was too straight to really trouble Jamie Sneddon in the Thistle goal.
Todd then drilled in a half-volley that was travelling at speed on target but, again, a Jags defender got in the way.
Self-inflicted second goal
Just as it seemed that Dunfermline had got themselves on top in the match, they conceded a wholly avoidable second in the 45th minute.
Once more, it came from a corner on the left and once more the Pars failed to cope.
Fitzpatrick hurled in the set-piece and Deniz Mehmet looked to be fully in control – until he dropped the high ball at the edge of the six-yard box.
Milne kept the ball alive with a looping header and the predatory Graham pounced first to find the empty net.
A second-half rally from Dunfermline
Todd headed over the bar from a Paul Allan cross in the second minute of the second period before the introduction of Owen Moffat injected some urgency into Dunfermline’s attack.
In the 64th minute, Todd was inches away from connecting with a wonderful Josh Edwards cross that then rebounded off the chest of Milne and dropped agonisingly wide.
Todd was again the danger man on the break as he thundered in a shot that Sneddon touched onto the woodwork and behind for a fruitless corner.
And there was no surprise that it was Todd who grabbed Dunfermline’s goal when it did come.
Edwards fired a low cross into the box and the midfielder timed his arrival to perfection to hammer a shot in off the underside of the crossbar.
But they could not find another despite a frenetic finish in which a Michael O’Halloran cross squirmed off the turf and against the post.
Star Man: Chris Hamilton
Playing at the heart of the Dunfermline rearguard, Hamilton was solid in all of his defensive duties.
But the former Hearts youngster’s slide-rule passes from the back, breaking the lines, were also when the Pars managed to threaten in attack.
Player Ratings
Dunfermline (3-4-1-2): Mehmet 5; Fisher 5 (Comrie 41 5), Hamilton 7, Otoo 7; O’Halloran 5, Allan 6, Chalmers 5 (Moffat 55), Edwards; Todd; Jakubiak, McCann. Subs not used: Little, Sharp, Breen, Fenton, Hoggan, McLeod, Sutherland. Booked: Moffat.
Ref: Chris Graham.
Attendance: 4,777.
