Vale completed their own version of the 'grand slam' on Saturday by beating visitors Clachnacuddin and in doing so meant they had completed the impressive feat of defeating every side in the Scot Ads Highland League at some point this season. More importantly for the Banff side they now only require a win and a draw from their last four matches to take the title away from Fraserburgh. Keith are now Vale's only real challengers after they defeated second-place Buckie at the weekend and Cove also fell out of the race when they could only manage a home draw with Inverurie Locos.
During the run-in to today's game a lot had been made over the fitness of Bryan Dlugonski, when he took an ankle knock while playing for the Highland league Select last Sunday, but the big Central Defender passed a late fitness test and took his usual place in Vale's starting line-up.

The visitors kicked off the match with a stiff breeze at their backs and forced a couple of early corner kicks but Vale stood firm with Barry Thompson in particular doing well to get a strong fist to Polworth's near-post headed flick, under pressure from Sandy McLeod. On Vale's first real attack of the match Kinghorn's low cross was deflected goal wards by Macrae as he attempted to clear but Rae, in the Clach goal, was alert to the danger and tipped the ball over the top for a corner.
McAllister's flag-kick was a good one and picked out Robbie Brown inside the penalty area but his well-timed header was expertly cleared off his own goal line by Colin Mitchell.
From Vale's next corner Taylor latched onto a loose ball inside the penalty box but Rae denied the young striker with a point-blank save. Anderson had a rare pop at goal as Vale applied even more pressure on the visitor's defence but the ball was deflected wide by the hard-working McLeod. Polworth found himself through on Thompson on the quarter hour mark with Vale's defence screaming at the far-side linesman for offside but the big keeper stood up well to save at the feet of the veteran striker. This near miss seemed to spark the Banffers into action and they took the lead on their next attack. Kidd's delightfully weighted pass found DOLAN in behind the "Lilywhite's" back-four and the wee defender expertly finished off the move with a sweet strike high into the roof of the net for his second of the season.
MacMillan was very lucky to escape a booking when he cynically brought down Kinghorn from behind but referee Cobb was in a very lenient mood and let the player off with a lecture. From the resultant free kick Chisholm saw his well-timed volley equally well saved by the left hand of Rae after the midfielder had done well to slip his marker at the back stick. Taylor was then upended by Rae as he nicked-in on the blind side of the keeper whilst trying to retrieve a loose ball but neither the referee or the stand-side linesman were interested in McKenzie & Taylor's loud appeals for a penalty and play continued. Terry Kidd took a heavy knock and had to leave the field to receive treatment and Clach's man-over almost paid off for them.
A high bouncing ball caused havoc inside the Vale box and was eventually cleared for a corner and from the set piece Thompson did very well to get a hand to Mitchell's flag-kick under extreme pressure from messers Allan & MacMillan. At the other end Taylor's shot was charged down before it reached the waiting Rae as Vale broke quickly. Thompson's poor clearance was intercepted by Polworth and he in turn fed the ball to Mitchell but the Vale Number One made up for his error by saving the Clach midfielder's 20-yard effort, low to his right. On the stroke of halftime Taylor came close again for the home side when his header off a McAllister cross drifted a yard past Rae's post with the keeper firmly rooted to the spot.

The "Lilywhites" looked a bit sharper after the restart and had modest shouts for a penalty when Brennan's drive came back off Dlugonski but Cobb was in a good position to make the right decision and 'play-on' was the shout from the man in black. Kidd then fired a 30-yader right down the throat of Rae before McKenzie's fine centre found no red shirts inside the Clach penalty box.
Kinghorn was well picked out by Anderson's clever free kick but the defender failed to control the ball on his chest inside the Clach box. Vale should have increased their lead soon after when McAllister's fired cross ricocheted to the feet of Mike McKenzie but somehow the in-form striker blasted wide from only 5 or 6 yards out. McKenzie's blushes were wiped away a minute or so later when Vale did double their lead. Stand-in strike partner Ritchie TAYLOR showed McKenzie the way to goal when he slipped the ball under Rae from inside the penalty area after Brown had fed the ball to the ready and willing youngster with a well-executed pass.
Brown played no further part in the game and was immediately substituted by Levi Stephen due to an Achilles knock, which the red-haired midfielder had failed to run-off. McKenzie tried again in vain to get on the score sheet but his long-range free kick was way too high to worry Rae.
McKenzie then struck the upright with a wind-assisted thunderbolt and as the ball came back into play Stephen blasted high over from 14-yards. Just after the hour mark Mike McKenzie got his just reward for his persistence when he put the home side three-up.
Taylor won a free kick 25-yards from goal and McKENZIE simply rocketed the ball through the defensive wall and into the back of the net leaving Rae without a 'ghoster'. Steve Dolan had an opportunity for a rare second of the afternoon but his set piece sailed well over the top. Rae's poor goal-kick landed straight at the feet of McKenzie but the keeper made amends for his error by saving low to his right as the deadly striker looked to make it twenty-eight for the campaign.
Taylor went down in the box following a tackle from behind by Allan but the referee, much to the amazement of the large crowd, cautioned the Vale player for diving rather than pointing to the penalty spot.
Kidd's grounder was easily saved by Rae before the midfielder was replaced by Pressley. At the other end Barry Thompson was forced into a save as the visitors went on a rare raid into the Vale 18-yard box. Taylor was taken crudely from behind by Brennan but again Cobb failed to see the need to brandish a yellow card when it seemed the obvious action to take. McKenzie rather selfishly wasted the resultant set piece when he blasted into the defensive wall when he had various options inside and outside the penalty area.
The sponsor's man-of-the-match went to Steve Dolan, a fitting tribute to the hard-working defender who had scored the all-important opener, which went a long way to securing this very important victory.

Vale boss Gregg Carrol was again delighted with his teams' performance and paid tribute to his hard working players who had controlled the match more or less from start to finish. Carrol added "This was a potential 'banana skin' for us but we pulled through once again through hard work and getting the goals at the right time". "That's another three points towards the title and we should now go on to win it ", added Carrol speaking for the first time about Vale's charge towards their first ever league crown.