Forfar Athletic scored four goals in the first half on their way to a 5-1 hammering of Brechin City in Thursday afternoon's Scottish League One action.
Martyn Fotheringham began the rout with his seventh-minute opener, and Chris Templeman, Darren Dods and Dale Hilson were all also on target before the break.
Bobby Barr pulled one back for Brechin in the 75th minute, but Templeman netted his second of the afternoon to give the visitors to Glebe Park the last word and move them three points ahead of City in the table.
East Fife are sandwiched between them in seventh place after Nathan Austin netted the only goal of the game to open up some space between them and opponents Arbroath in the relegation playoff spot with a 1-0 victory at the Bayview Stadium.
Dunfermline Athletic struck a last-minute winner to firmly establish themselves in second, although they are still 11 points behind runaway leaders Rangers.
Andy Geggan bagged 90 seconds into stoppage time to cancel out Sean Lynch's 85th-minute equaliser for Stenhousemuir, which came in response to Fayssal El Bakhtaoui's opener.
