Dunfermline ruled out the lingering possibility of being dragged into a relegation play-off with a draw against Inverness Caley Thistle.
A Kyle Benedictus header in the 41st minute earned the Pars the initiative at the break.
And Deniz Mehmet’s fourth penalty save in a row from Billy Mckay eight minutes after the interval kept the Highlanders at bay.
However, a strike from Aribim Pepple with 15 minutes remaining set nerves jangling before the Fifers saw out the 90 minutes.
They remain sixth in the table but are crucially out of the reach of both Inverness in ninth and Queen’s Park in eighth.
Team news
Still needing that one point to ensure their safety, manager James McPake made two changes from the side that eked out a goalless draw with Queen’s Park.
Lewis McCann, winner of the club’s goal of the season award, and on-loan Livingston defender Miles Welch-Hayes dropped to the bench.
In their place came sitting midfielder Paul Allan and attacker Owen Moffat.
Final home flourish?
McPake had called for a performance that got the fans off their seats for the final home game of the season.
But it was a calamitous moment in just the second minute that led to a booking for Kyle Benedictus as Paul Allan and Josh Edwards went for the same ball to allow Billy Mckay to break.
Inverness, desperately needing a win, started briskly and Benedictus produced a superb block to deny Alex Samuel in the 22nd minute.
Mark Ridgers then came to the rescue for the visitors when he stopped a Chris Kane shot and then another from a low Owen Moffat curler on the half-hour mark.
First-half action
In a tense first-half on a dry, bobbly pitch, Deniz Mehmet tipped over a James Carragher header.
But there was nothing Ridgers could do to prevent Dunfermline taking the lead four minutes from the break.
Inverness failed to clear an initial Allan corner and when the ball was shuttled back to the midfielder he swung in a glorious delivery with his left foot.
Benedictus timed his run to perfection to thunder home a superb header from eight yards out.
Allan came close to a second for the Pars but his shot from 25 yards out whistled over the bar.
Second-half
There were two pivotal moments early in the second-half.
First, Dunfermline broke at pace in the 50th minute and Owen Moffat fed Matty Todd to his right.
The midfielder’s shot was destined for the net until Ridgers’ right boot diverted it up and over the crossbar.
Then, Moffat was adjudged to have handled in the box, even though Luis Longstaff’s attempted pass from from point-blank range.
But Mehmet guessed correctly and dived to his right to hold Mckay’s weak spot-kick and make it four penalty saves in a row.
Mehmet looked culpable, however, when he failed to come off his line and allowed substitute Pepple to poke in a leveller for Inverness with 15 minutes remaining.
But, with a resolute rearguard effort and some intelligent late game management, the Pars held on for the draw they needed.
Star Man: Kyle Benedictus
The captain netted Dunfermline’s vital first-half goal.
But he was a rock at the other end of the pitch, heading and clearing everything that came his way.
Time and time again, he was in the right place at the right time.
Player Ratings
Dunfermline (3-4-2-1): Mehmet 6; Fisher 6, Benedictus 8, Fagan-Walcott 7; Ritchie-Hosler 6 (Welch-Hayes 79 3), Hamilton 6, Allan 7, Edwards 5; Todd 5 (Tod 62 4), Moffat 6 (McCann 79 3); Kane 6 (Jakubiak 69 3). Subs not used: Little, Chalmers, Breen, O’Halloran, Holmes. Booked: Benedictus, Tod.
Referee: Alan Muir.
Attendance: 5,317.
