Deveronvale Football Club would like to apologise to all wives, partners and mothers in the Banff area because if they failed to receive a gift or even see their better halves on Mothering Sunday then it is to be expected after celebration went on long into the night on Saturday evening.
The champagne bottles were corked in Keith at precisely nine minutes to five on Saturday when Vale finally did what previous players and management had failed to do on sixty-four other occasions of asking and lift the Highland League Championship. In the end one goal settled a tense and scrappy affair and it came, as predicted earlier in the week, from come-back scoring machine Ian Murray midway through the second half when the wee striker beat Shearer with an expertly taken finish from 12-yards.
Words were hard to come by for some of Vale's older support who had witnessed years of disappointment especially last year when they so cruelly lost the league to Fraserburgh right at the death.
A brisk spring breeze coupled with a very dry and bumpy surface prevented the game being a classic but Vale did just about enough to win the contest in a game of 'two halves' and few chances.

Keith won the toss and elected to play with the elements for the first forty-five and pinned the visitors back for long periods without really creating too many clear-cut chances. An early free kick on the left was well gathered by Thompson and then minutes later Still miscued in front of goal following a cleverly worked corner.
Taylor's snapshot rolled agonisingly across the face of Shearer's goal and out of play as Vale replied to Keith's early pressure. A brilliant dribbling run by Dolan was ended by King's timely intervention inside the 6-yard box as Murray and Taylor looked for the cutback. Donaldson was unlucky to find Thompson in pole position to thwart the midfielder as he made progress into the Vale penalty box after ghosting past Dolan & Stephen with relative ease.
Vale forced their first corner after good work from Taylor and Murray but McAllister's flag kick failed to pick out a visiting head allowing King with the opportunity to clear. Thompson was at full stretch to pluck a Donaldson effort from under his cross bar and at the other end Chisholm hooked over from 16-yards under pressure from Morrison. Chisholm was then called-on to clear inside his own penalty box as Brown looked to sneak in behind him a before Still fired high over the top from 20-yards out. Another great run from Dolan failed to materialise into a shooting opportunity for the defender when he eventually ran out of space as he reached the penalty area.
Thompson showed good handling when he plucked a wind-assisted Still free kick out of the air before the same player fizzed a low shot across the 6-yard box and out of play, much to the relief of the vociferous "Valley Crew". McAllister's free kick was completely missed by Taylor at back stick but it wouldn't have counted any how as the player was in an offside position

Keith kicked off the second period but it was the visitors with the strong wind at their backs who threatened early on. Neat play from Taylor created an opening for Chisholm but Shearer tipped the ball over the top for a corner. From the set piece Chisholm headed against the face of the cross bar before Morrison hacked the loose ball clear.
Levi Stephen then tested Shearer with a low drive, which the keeper got down early to and saved comfortably. Dlugonski skied well over following another Vale corner as the Champions elect turned the screw. Good play by Brown set up Taylor but after setting himself the young striker sliced wide when he really should have done better.
Chisholm's attempted lob was easily caught by Shearer before Vale's constant pressure finally paid off. MURRAY ran onto a through ball inside the Keith 18-yard box and brilliantly fired a left-footed shot across Shearer and into the net for his fortieth of the season.
Thompson's punch lacked any distance and McAllister had to thump clear before the keeper was punished by the lurking Nicol. Smith then had a great chance to equalise for the home side but screwed his shot wide with only Thompson to beat.
Vale legend Nigel Montgomery entered the stage with eleven minutes remaining and received a huge cheer from the visiting support. Substitute Barrie Stephen almost put the icing on the cake for the visitors when he headed narrowly over after a good piece of wing play by Murray.
Murray then saw his drive from distance easily saved by Shearer as the minutes ticked away. Reid fired high over for the home side as cheers rang in his ear of championees from the terracing. The last chance of the match fell to Murray but his 22-yard free kick lacked the power and accuracy to beat Shearer.
As the final whistle blew Vale players, management and fans went into raptures as the celebrations commenced and are probably still going on to this minute.

Vale:
Thompson, Dolan, Kinghorn, Chisholm (Montgomery 79), Dlugonski, Anderson, McAllister, Brown (Pressley 83), Taylor (B. Stephen 83), Murray, L. Stephen
Subs not used: Kidd, Speirs
Keith:
Shearer, Brown, Ferrie, Morrison, King, Niddrie, Still, Donaldson, Smith, Nicol, Reid
Referee:P.Cheyne

Gregg Carrol was absolutely ecstatic after, in his words, the biggest ninety minutes of his footballing career to date. Carrol went on to say "I'd like to thank everyone involved at the club for their support over the last few season, the players for their hard graft and especially to our superb fans for their tremendous backing today and all season".