Any clouds hanging over Princess Royal Park were well and truly blown away on Saturday afternoon as Vale served up a feast of football to their goal hungry fans.
The past two weeks have not been easy for the Champions and their supporters, but the sun certainly shone on them this week as they scored a magnificent seven that could quite easily have been a dirty dozen! A second half hatrick from Barrie Stephen, a Mark Chisholm brace, a Steve Dolan free-kick and a Darren McAllister poke-in, completed a day where everything seemed to go right for Vale (well, maybe not Dougal !) and saw them shoot back up the Highland League table.
Manager Gregg Carroll rang the changes to his side introducing Stuart Gray to right back and Paul Urquhart and Bobby Brown into midfield. Barrie Stephen partnered Mike McKenzie up front in a new look team that certainly seemed to work.

The homeside kicked off and within seconds Steve Dolan was seen bursting up field and into the Forres box. With only two minutes played Vale had the ball in the net but Barrie Stephen was adjuged to be offside from a rebound off a Mike McKenzie shot. Four minutes later and the Vale fans really could cheer this time as Mark CHISHOLM latched on to a thru ball and calmly slotted the ball past the Forres keeper for the opener.

The thirteenth minute proved unlucky for the Vale No 4 as he missed a glorious opportunity for his own and Vale's second goal when he broke through with only the keeper to beat but sadly this time his shot slid the wrong side of the post. 20 minutes gone and Vale got their first freekick of the match when Matheson handled just outside the box. Mike McKenzie stepped up but only managed to drive the ball low and wide. Visitors Forres had their first attack seconds later when Ryan Green flashed a fierce drive across the Vale goalmouth.
Vale immediately broke back up field and Barrie Stephen might have done better to strike a first time shot from a perfect pass from Dolan. Mike McKenzie and Mark Chisholm linked well in 27 minutes resulting in a vicious right foot shot being held well by McRitchie in the Forres goal.

Vale's Ross Bremner showed his own goalkeeping skills on the half hour mark when he instinctively saved from Green at close range to deny the visitors an equaliser. Seconds later Barrie Stephen again tried his luck with a fierce shot only to be denied by the woodwork. Striking partner Mike McKenzie tried to go one better minutes later but instead only succeeded in blasting his shot wide. Vale kept attacking the Forres goal and were awarded a freekick with just a minute left of the first half. Mike McKenzie was tripped on the edge of the box but Steve DOLAN stepped up to take the kick. The defender then proceeded to show his strking colleagues just exactly how it should be done and floated a perfect left foot shot over the Forres wall and into the net for Vale's second.

Vale started the second half as they finished the first, with constant attacks on the Forres goalmouth. Levi Stephen sent in an inviting cross early on which Paul Urquhart looked certain to meet with his head. Unfortunately for the Vale player the Forres defence had other ideas and looked to bundle both the ball and the player away. In the 52nd minute Bobby Brown found himself in space from a Stuart Gray pass but just failed to lob the advancing McRitchie. Two minutes later though and the Vale pressure paid off as Levi Stephen's quickly taken freekick was met perfectly by Barrie STEPHEN who blasted home from six yards.
On the hour Forres very nearly made their mark as yet again Ryan Green was denied for the visitors when Steve Dolan managed to get in the way of his goalbound shot. The visiting fans did not have to wait long to eventually see their side score though as in 64 minutes substitute Charlie BROWN blasted in the easiest of chances from close range to close the gap.

Whilst the Vale defence may have been caught napping, the boys up front were wide awake and within a minute managed to regain their three goal advantage when Barrie STEPHEN showed great skill and control on the edge of the box and launched an unstoppable shot past McRitchie for Vale's fourth.
Three minutes later though and the goal gap was reduced once more. In a bizzare mix-up in the Vale defence Bryan DLUGONSKI misdirected his header back to Ross Bremner and into the Vale goal.

Fans were now beginning to wonder what would happen next and within five minutes were given the answer. Mark CHISHOLM netted his second of the match with a superb volley from 6 yards from a Stephen cross. Vale then made it six with only six to go. Barrie STEPHEN completed his hatrick when he reacted first to a tempting ball from McKenzie just inside the box.

The game was well and truly over but not the goals as Vale sub Darren McALLISTER nipped in three minutes from time to poke a loose ball home from three yards.
Referee Mr Clark blew for full time much to the relief of the visitors but despair of the Vale fans, they wanted to see more and who could blame them!

Manager Gregg Carroll said after the match that he was "delighted with his teams performance and had been confident even before a goal was scored that the visitors would be in for a hard time." He was aware that the team needed a "wee change" and was more than happy with the results of his reshuffle. On the Barrie Stephen hatrick Greg was quoted as saying that "on that form today, Barrie is unstoppable !"
On the downside, he expressed his disappointment at the two goals Vale lost and agreed Vale were indeed lucky not to have conceded more. A great result however, Gregg felt just alittle disappointed that thay have a week off next week and won't have the opportunity to keep the goal momentum going.

Vale:
Bremner, Dolan (McAllister), Gray, Chisholm, Dlugonski, Anderson, Urquhart (Campbell), L. Stephen, McKenzie, B.Stephen, Brown (Kidd)
Subs not used: Watt,

Forres
McRitchie, Grant, Simmers, Mclean, Bradshaw, Mcintosh, Whyte, Matheson, Green, Scott, Gibson
Subs Brown, Black, Moore, Ross, Mackenzie.

Referee:D.Clark (4)