A grandstand finish at Inverurie on Saturday saw Vale reach the final of the Highland League Cup for the third season running although they were made to fight all the way by a gutsy Loco's performance in a match which could so easily have required an additional thirty minutes to separate the sides.
Vale skipper Scott Anderson emerged as the hero of the day with his second of the season as with less than two minutes remaining on the clock he popped up inside the penalty box to hammer the ball home following a corner kick which Locos failed to clear.
Ian Murray had put the Banffers in the driving seat with his forty-seventh of the season and it had looked enough to see Vale through until Ritchie Davidson drew the home side level with a controversial equaliser sixteen minutes later. With Fraser Speirs still organising his defensive wall the midfielder simply knocked the ball high into the empty net and much to the delight of the home support and surprise of the visiting contingent referee Paul Cheyne allowed the goal to stand.
Vale were without the suspended Mark Chisholm and the unavailable Ryan Pressley but did welcome back Mike McKenzie to the fold, ironically his first appearance since he injured his ankle on the same ground five weeks ago. Roddy Mess missed out for the home side, also through suspension, while John Gardiner elected to go with Lee Mellough between the sticks in favour of come-back veteran Ian Thain who had played the previous Saturday but was still lacking some much required match fitness to play another ninety minutes so soon after returning from a leg break sustained pre-season.

The visitors kicked off down the Harlaw slope in perfect conditions although considering the amount of rainfall over the past week the playing surface was still quite dry and fiery.
Kinghorn had Vale's first chance of the match but his wind-assisted 25-yarder clipped the outside of the upright on its way out for a goal kick. Ross was cautioned early on for a bad challenge on Dolan and Murray followed him into the book for un-necessary backchat to the man in black following the incident. A great saving tackle by Robbie Brown inside his own penalty box thwarted McKay as Locos forced Vale back for a five-minute spell without really penetrating the visiting rearguard.
At the other end Vale won their second corner of the match and as the ball broke out Montgomery tried his luck from distance but his fierce drive was a couple of feet wide of Mellough's upright. A nice piece of skill from Dolan inside the 18-yard box ended with the defender hitting the side netting when a ball across the face of goal may well have paid dividends for the Banff outfit. Stephen was upended as he made good progress through the Locos midfield but Cheyne waved play-on and then Murray was similarly treated by the home defence but this time Cheyne booked Fraser for the challenge and awarded a free kick. McKenzie took the set-piece firing low to Mellough's right but the keeper got down well to parry the ball around the post. The match was delayed for a good five minutes when Park looked to have twisted his knee under a challenge from McAllister and eventually had to be stretchered off and was replaced by McLeod.
As the game got back underway Montgomery carved out a great opportunity for Darren McAllister but "Daz" fired straight down Mellough's mid-rift allowing the keeper to make a fine stop at the expense of another fruitless corner. As half-time neared McKenzie swung in an inch perfect cross, which was perfectly placed between keeper and defence, but McAllister's dive towards the enticing cross failed to make any kind of connection and the ball sailed harmlessly to safety.

Minutes after the restart Murray looked to latch onto a McAllister cross but a timely interception from Davidson prevented the striker opening the scoring and then Fraser sliced over his own crossbar as Vale looked to get their noses in front in the tie. Locos went up the other end and forced their first corner of the contest but Vale's defence stood strong with good headed clearances by Anderson and Montgomery.
Ross fired wide from inside the six-yard box before Vale made their first personnel change. Barrie Stephen entered the fray when he replaced the hard working Darren McAllister in a straight positional swap for the visitors. Brown, who was having another great game in the centre of the park, played a one-two at the edge of the penalty area with Levi Stephen but slipped as he went for the return ball at the crucial moment. Vale had a couple of hairy moments at the back and were lucky to escape not conceding but some great defending from Bryan Dlugonski saved the day for the Banffers as "Dougal" using his presence and experience mopped-up as Locos looked likely to open the scoring.
Just as the homesters thought they might sneak a goal at one end they were exposed at the other when Mike McKenzie sprung their defensive trap to bear down on Mellough well inside the 18-yard box but as the tiring striker looked to pull the trigger he was scythed down from behind by Reid. The defender was only shown a yellow card by Cheyne, which was quite surprising, before Ian MURRAY fired high past the home keeper from the penalty spot to set his side on their way to their fourth final of the season.
Substitute George Reid shot just past Speirs' left hand post as the home side went looking for the equaliser. Speirs was then called into making his first direct save of the afternoon when he did well to smother McWilliam's low-struck free kick as Reid and Baxter looked for any spillage from the young keeper. A customary dash down the left flank by Dlugonski ended with the big defender slicing into the side netting before the home side drew level.
A soft free kick was awarded at the edge of Vale's penalty box and as Speirs attempted to line up his defensive wall Davidson crashed the ball into the unguarded net without so much as a whistle from referee Cheyne. This prompted Vale into action and back they came at Locos winning a free kick in a similar position to the one the home side had just scored from. Montgomery tried to carbon copy Davidson's effort but Mellough was wise to "Monty's" quick thinking and touched the ball over for a corner.
As the flag-kick came over Murray and Brown both had efforts cleared off the line before Scott ANDERSON lashed the ball home from midway inside the 18-yard box to send the large travelling support into raptures. With only seconds remaining Locos had a great chance to send the tie into an additional thirty minutes but somehow McWilliam completely missed Reid's knockdown inside the 6-yard box and Speirs collected gratefully.
Vale now go on to play Keith in the final on May the 10th, at a venue which still has to be decided

A relieved Gregg Carrol said, "That was some finish but not so good on the nerves. But seriously we've been pushed all the way again by a hard-working Inverurie side and came through by the skin of our teeth. The competition has been kind to us over the last three seasons although not at the final stage and we'll be doing our utmost to go that one step further and lift the one cup which has dogged the club so far".

Vale:
Speirs, Dolan, Kinghorn, Montgomery, Dlugonski, #Anderson, McAllister (B. Stephen 59), Brown, McKenzie (Taylor 71), #Murray, L. Stephen (Kidd 82)

Locos:
Mellough, #Fraser, Bisset, Wilson, #N. Reid, Park (McLeod 39), #Ross, Baxter, McKay (G. Reid 72), McWilliam, Davidson
Subs not used: Anderson, Christie (K)
Referee: P. Cheyne