Glenrothes saw their challenge for the BT Caledonia Division One silverware officially ended when they went down 36-12 to fellow title-chasers Gordonians at Carleton Park.
A first half try by Steven Dean was converted by Steven Varney to leave the hosts 19-7 in arrears at the break and although Stewart Hainey touched down in the second period, it was not sufficient to prevent a fifth successive defeat for the Fifers.
The result means that Glenrothes, whose campaign concludes on Saturday with the visit of Strathmore, can no longer top the table.
Gordonians now lead the way, having leapfrogged Orkney who lost away to Highland, the other side in the leading quartet.
The race for the honours in Division Two (Midlands) looks set to go to the wire after Harris Academy maintained the pressure on pacesetters Carnoustie with a 103-12 win at home to Howe of Fife seconds.
The Elliot Road men powered into a 52-12 lead at half time and kept up the relentless pace after the restart to break through the century of points.
The massive scoreline means that Harris now sit five points adrift of Carnoustie but with a game in hand over the leaders, whose match with Stirling University was postponed because of the students having transport difficulties.
Harris also have a 29 points difference advantage compared with their rivals.
Grangemouth Stags boosted their chances of pipping Alloa for third spot when they returned from the trip to meet Panmure with a 65-7 win to their credit.
Meanwhile, Kinross had completed their league campaign on Friday with a 34-26 win at home to basement side Blairgowrie.
Arbroath remain in the race for the Division Three (Midlands) silverware after edging out Crieff & Strathearn 26-22 at the Braidhaugh.
Perthshire seconds had beaten Waid Academy 25-13 on Friday evening.
The destination of this trophy is unlikely to be settled until early May.
Stobswell bounced back from defeat the previous week with a 45-32 win away to Strathmore seconds in a Division Four (Midlands) encounter.
The other matches did not proceed so Fife Southern were awarded a 28-0 win over Hillfoots seconds and Alloa Seconds had the same outcome in their scheduled fixture against Montrose & District.