Horsham are out of the British League premier division title race after losing 9-4 at Dulwich.
Their chance of winning £1,000 prize money for finishing second has evaporated.
If they lose any more points to lower teams they will be under pressure to finish third.
Captain Ritchie Venner admitted: "That's blown it."
Venner scored twice in the match, but lost to Tom Cutler who won all three of his games and was Horsham's main stumbling block.
Laurence Trumpauskas is a class player but a change of job means he is not getting any practice.
He only secured one victory at Dulwich but Nigel Eckersley scored twice. Horsham's junior international Dominic Hall did not score.
Hall, like Eckersley, is playing at Chatham this week in the English Open.
The other two Horsham teams had mixed fortunes in the lower divisions. The second team are eyeing third place in the division two after losing 5-3 to Plymouth.
Andy Walker (Lancing) was the star, beating Paul Whiting and Mike Short.
Horsham third team are mid-table after beating Cornish team Tregorrick Park 8-2, drawing 4-4 with Barnet but they lost to London Progress and Fellows Cranleigh.
Horsham Thirds captain, Graham Carter defeated Tom Carr, who is 200 places above him on the England ranking list.
Hopes are rising that the Sussex Open Grand Prix in October may now take place at Crawley Leisure Centre. Negotiations are opening shortly.
After some uncertainty, the All-Sussex Championships have been confirmed for March 31 (juniors) and April 1 (seniors) at Hove.
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