Local rivals Buckie Thistle defeated an out of sorts Vale side for the second time this season thanks to a innocuous strike from Stuart McGuigan midway through the first half which was enough to knock the champions off the top of the table after they had regained the position just seven days earlier leaving them three points adrift of leaders Clach.
McGuigan's freakish counter proved to be the difference between the sides in a match with only one real winner, the strong westerly wind, which got up about ten minutes to three and succeeded in ruining the eagerly anticipated encounter between the two title chasing clubs.
Kevin Will's Buckie were without Paul Lamberton and Scott Taylor but still managed to put out a strong starting eleven with ex-Vale striker Franny More, anxious to show his former club what they were missing, partnering youngster Stuart McGuigan upfront whilst keeping the experienced Colin Milne on the bench. Vale were without the suspended Robbie Brown for the second week running but welcomed back Bryan Dlugonski to the fold and he slotted into the back four, replacing the unfortunate Ryan Pressley who had failed to shake off a hamstring injury, picked up at Brora last Saturday.

The first ten minutes saw a nervy start from both sides as they tried to settle in front of the large crowd with the visitors facing up the slope and kicking into the strong breeze. Ross Bremner was the first of the two keepers to be tested when a deep freekick bounced-up awkwardly inside his six-yard box but the big keeper was alert enough to judge the run of the ball and in the end saved comfortably.
Catto then fired in a snap shot from distance but his effort was a foot wide of Bremner's right-hand upright.
On Vale's first major attack Kevin Main did brilliantly to deny Jamie Watt the first goal of the afternoon when he raced from his goal to deflect the ball wide after Watt had been sent clear by Mike McKenzie and as the ball broke loose Kevin Small was on hand to thump clear in the nick of time with Mark Chisholm looking to capitalise.
Mark Chisholm then seemed to be pushed from behind inside the penalty box as he attempted to retrieve a loose ball to the back post but referee Ian Emslie waved play on. Minutes later Paul Urquhart dribbled his way into the Buckie 18-yard box before falling to the deck under a challenge but again Emslie saw nothing untoward and play raged on.
Bremner failed to hold a long ranger from McGuigan, which again took a wicked bounce right in front of him, but as the ball broke free Stuart Gray was on hand to clear before the keeper could be punished. A superbly timely tackle from Shewan inside the penalty box denied Jamie Watt a clear path through on goal before Kevin Main, at full stretch, finger tipped the ball off Chisholm's head following a pin-point Mike McKenzie cross as the Banffers started to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Just as Vale were starting to enjoy the lions share of the game the home side broke upfield and scored what turned out to be the winning goal. Franny More got to the bye-line before swinging in a low cross to the near post and somehow from the tightest of angles Stuart McGuigan managed to stick out a boot and somehow succeeded in lobbing the ball into the opposite corner with Ross Bremner completely fooled by the arc of the ball although the big keeper did get a strong hand to it before the wind blew it into the side netting much to the delight of the noisy home crowd.
More almost doubled the Jag's lead as they grew in confidence from their opener and it took some great defending from Bryan Dlugonski to deny the pint size striker with a good block well inside the Vale penalty box.
Angus stretched to poke the ball out of play following a dangerous raid into the Buckie box by the otherwise quiet Steve Dolan but Vale failed to take advantage of set-piece with Levi Stephen's resulting corner easily mopped up by the home defence.

The large Vale support were expecting better things from their side in the second half and indeed they started it well winning a corner on the right but again Main was first to the ball fisting clear under pressure from Anderson.
Buckie's response was a little more precise when they too won a corner and Shewan was unfortunate to see his low effort just clear the far post following More's inviting low cross from the right. As the wind increased so did Vale's desperation to get back on level terms but the home side were slowing the game down at every opportunity and the visitors received no help from the referee who seemed quite content to let Buckie take as long as they wished when awarded any free or goal kicks.
Scott Anderson was forced to turn a dangerous low cross away for a fruitless corner as Thistle came looking for a killer second and minutes later the skipper had to do likewise this time with his head as Franny More's cross curled in dangerously towards the near post area.
Vale made their first change on the hour-mark when Ian Murray replaced the disappointing Barrie Stephen as the visitors went to a four-three-three for the final third of the game. Mike McKenzie had the ball in the Buckie net seconds later but the whistle had already gone for a foul on the home keeper when it looked more like a misjudgement from the number one when he dropped the ball under pressure from Mark Chisholm.
Paul Urquhart then headed weakly straight at Main following some trickery on the right from substitute Murray. The visitors continued their search for an equaliser and Mark Chisholm should probably have done better when he headed wide completely unmarked 12-yars out with Main caught in no man's land, but the ball sailed inches past much to delight of the Buckie fans and not to the midfielders, playing against his home town side.
Terry Kidd replaced "Chis" minutes later in an effort to change Vale's fortune but the stubborn home defence were playing out of their skin and were determined not to let their nearest rivals back into the match.
Murray came close again for the Banff side when beat Main to a through ball but the keeper did just enough to force the substitute wide before saving his weak effort comfortably. With only seven minutes remaining Vale were denied what looked like a stone-wall penalty when Murray latched onto a through ball and went down just as he looked to pull the trigger inside the area but despite the huge roar which went up from the travelling support referee Emslie stood strong and waved play on although chose not to book Murray for diving if indeed the wee striker wasn't tripped!
Murray had Vale's last chance of a disappointing afternoon for the champions but blazed over from a tight angle, leaving Vale without a victory at Victoria Ground for more than five years and some work to do to catch new leaders Clach.

Gregg Carrol pulled no punches when he said, "Today's performance was simply not good enough from a team with serious aspirations of winning the Highland League. We started well and took the game to them for the first twenty minutes but once Buckie scored we were terrible. We didn't get the ball down and play our normal game and instead chose to launch long balls which in the end proved completely fruitless. While our back four looked very comfortable throughout the midfield were quite the reverse and didn't create near enough opportunities for our starved strikers. Two shots on goal from ninety minutes tells the story and I will need to have some serious thinking to do before I select my side for next Saturday's home tussle with Cove Rangers".
On the penalty claim Carrol said "I didn't think the initial challenge was a penalty but as Murray went for the loose ball it definitely looked like he was pulled back however it was very much a case of too little too late for us and although neither keeper was really tested and Ross (Bremner) hardly had a save to make throughout we simply didn't do enough to pick up the points".

Buckie:
Main, Pirie, Small, Catto, Angus, Shewan, Smith (Davidson 76), Munro, McGuigan (Milne 80), More, McDonald
Subs not used: - Gairns, R. Taylor, Coutts

Vale:
Bremner, Dolan, S. Gray, Chisholm (Kidd 74), Dlugonski, Anderson, B. Stephen (Murray 60), L. Stephen, McKenzie, #Watt, Urquhart
Subs not used: - Sharp, Campbell, Phimister (GK)


Referee:I.Emslie