Beginning Round 22 three points clear, Gnistan knew they only needed a point against Jaro to finish in the top half before the league splits into two for the final few weeks, and would have been grateful that a loss to KuPS last week knocked Jaro out of the race for the same prize.
But the visitors did not play like a team with little to fight for, and took the lead with just over a quarter of an hour gone, as Severi Kahkonen nipped in at the near post and turned in Albin Bjorkskog's cross.
Points still mattered for Jaro as they aim to avoid being dragged into a relegation fight - fortunately, they can call upon one of the league's top scorers, Kerfala Cissoko, who notched his 12th of the season early in the second half, having been set up by Adam Vidjeskog.
Three minutes later, Juhani Ojala reduced the deficit back down to one, but even with over half an hour to play, Gnistan couldn't find the equaliser they craved, leaving their fate in the balance. Having been promoted last season, Jaro finish the regular season in eighth place.
A one-goal loss for Gnistan meant VPS needed to beat Inter Turku by three goals to snatch the final Championship Round place.
Having gone unbeaten all season, Inter Turku had lost their previous two matches, but now would need a win to guarantee first place at the end of the regular season.
It looked to be more of the same for Inter as early in the second half, when they could only clear a corner to the edge of the area, where Antti-Ville Raisanen was arriving to thunder VPS into the lead.
However, the match swung just two minutes later when Rasmus Leislahti was dismissed, reducing the visitors to 10 men.
It still took the home side over 30 minutes to find an equaliser, which finally came through Mamodou Sarr, and with VPS hopes failing, they even fell behind in the eighth minute of added time, as Dimitri Legbo teed up Joonas Kekarainen for his first in the league all season.
The 2-1 result ensured VPS stayed seventh and sent Gnistan to the Championship Round, and that Inter Turku finished in first place in the regular season with 46 points from their 22 matches.
Three points for Inter Turku meant they could not be overtaken by Ilves, who finished the regular season in second place thanks to a 2-1 win over Mariehamn.
Roope Riski's penalty gave the hosts the lead early in the second half, before Korede Adedoyin produced an equaliser for the Aland Islanders with 15 minutes to play.
But six minutes from time, Aapo Maenpaa rolled the ball across to Jardell Kanga, who produced a wonderful curling strike into the top corner, ensuring the Tampere side go into the Championship Round on three straight wins, while Mariehamn finish ninth after a second loss in a row.
Finishing the first part of the season a place lower and a point further back are HJK, but they have gone one better than Ilves, in that they have won their last four thanks to a commanding 4-1 win over KTP, who begin the Relegation Round bottom of the pile.
Luca Wekstrom gave the hosts a shock lead just eight minutes in, but the Helsinki side had turned it around before the break courtesy of Benji Michel and Brooklyn Lyons-Foster.
Teemu Pukki got in on the act after the break before Jere Kallinen completed the scoring in the final 15 minutes. KTP's loss is their fifth in a row and will need a brisk change of form if they are to avoid relegation.
HJK are one of three sides to finish the regular season on 44 points after KuPS and SJK drew 1-1 in Seinajoki, which means only two points separate the top five teams in the fight for the Veikkausliiga title.
Early on, Jeremiah Streng capitalised on some slack KuPS defending to put the home side ahead, but the UEFA Conference League qualifiers hit back midway through the first half when a ball to the pack post was nodded back across for Petteri Pennanen to volley home.
Finally, after spending virtually the whole season in the bottom two, AC Oulu will begin the Relegation Round third from bottom after they beat Haka 3-2 to send their opponents into the bottom two.
Julius Korkko's equaliser cancelled out Arlind Sejdiu's early opener for Haka, then two goals late in the first half from Onni Tiihonen and Shayon Harrison put Oulu in control.
Roni Hudd pulled one back in the 90th minute, but Oulu held on to end their four-match losing streak, as Haka suffered their sixth loss in succession, and are now nine matches without a win.
After the international break, the league splits in two for the Championship and Relegation Rounds, as we discover who will be crowned Veikkausliiga champions, who will qualify for Europe, and who will be relegated to the second tier.