Visitors Inverurie Locos made Vale fight all the way for the three points in an end to end thrilling encounter which was a dress rehearsal for Wednesday night's Carlsberg Tetley Aberdeenshire Shield Cup Final when the two sides will do battle all over again.

Vale got off to another flier when Barrie Stephen glanced a header past Ian Thain with less than two minutes on the clock but Locos replied with two goals inside six minutes to give them a short lived upper hand. The turning point in the match came when Ross smacked a drive off Bremner's crossbar, which seemed to inspire the Banffers and they turned the game on it's head with further first half goals from Steve Dolan, Ian Murray and Barrie Stephen to finally see off their spirited opponents.
Locos travelled to Banff off the back of five straight wins but saw their squad stretched when they lost the services Kenny Coull, Roddy Mess and ex-Vale winger Ritchie Singer through injury.
Robbie Brown failed to shake off a knee injury picked up last Saturday and missed the match for the home side although Scott Anderson did return to his usual defensive role with Mark Chisholm slotting back into the Vale midfield.

The home side were quick out of the blocks, not for the first time this season, and Murray forced an early corner, which came to nothing. However Vale were soon back on the offensive and took the lead with only 110 seconds on the clock.
Ian Murray swept in a cross from the left and Barrie STEPHEN glanced a superb header past Ian Thain from 8 or 9 yards out into the side netting of the goal.
Ross drove wide from an acute angle as the visitors showed that Vale's early strike didn't faze them in any way and as they drove forward Andy Walker sent a long range effort straight down the throat of Ross Bremner. Murray almost doubled Vale's advantage when he stooped to head a McKenzie cross inches past the far post, however the stand-side assistant referee already had his flag raised and it wouldn't have counted even if the diminutive striker had put the ball between the posts.
The visitors equalised when Bremner pulled off a fine save from McKay only for Tommy Wilson to fire the loose ball high into the net from the edge of the penalty area.
Worse was to follow for the Vale defence six minutes later when Anderson and Dlugonski got themselves into a pickle with a short freekick and Low was quick to take advantage when he raced through on Bremner leaving the defensive due in his wake before stroking the ball home and send the noisy travelling support into raptures.
Minutes later Vale got lucky when Ross struck their cross bar with a long-range effort which had Bremner beaten all end up and the "valley crew" breathed a huge sigh of relief as the ball fell to safety.

Locos were dictating the midfield area and looking dangerous as they drove forward with their attack minded formation but it was the home side who scored next with a very cleverly worked freekick.

Murray was taken from behind right on the edge of the penalty box, Mike McKenzie worked a super decoy run and Steve DOLAN curled a beauty past the defensive wall and into the corner of the net to pull Vale level. Incredibly the Banffers weren't finished there and two minutes later Ian MURRAY put them back in front when he expertly turned his marker after taking a pass to feet from McKenzie before slotting the ball past the helpless Thain and into the bottom corner.

As Vale celebrated their lead Murray lay in a heap inside the Locos box before being stretchered off with an achilles injury, which will almost certainly see him out of action for a few weeks for the Banffers. Levi Stephen replaced the unlucky striker with namesake Barrie moving up-top to partner Mike McKenzie. Darren McAllister was unlucky not to pick out Mark Chisholm's run into the Locos penalty box, John Young intercepting in the nick of time before Vale completed the scoring with a fourth. Mike McKenzie played a ball into the box and Barrie STEPHEN capitalised on some hesitancy by the visiting defence to crack home his second of the match from 12-yards.

Vale had a real let off at the start of the second period when firstly Bremner denied McKay before Dlugonski cleared off this own goal line leaving McWilliam with an opportunity but the winger screwed his effort over the top from a decent position. Vale's response was a well-placed Levi Stephen 18-yard header, which bounced off Thain's crossbar before crossing the line for a goal kick. Locos came close to scoring again when Young's far post header was saved by Bremner before Stuart Gray completed the clearance.

As play swept from end to end, just like the rainfall which had just started to descend on the luscious playing surface, Vale talisman Mike McKenzie was denied by the legs of Ian Thain following a well-struck 25-yard freekick. Thain then denied Barrie Stephen also with his legs as the home side looked to make sure of the three points. Levi Stephen's run down the left and cut inside found Mike McKenzie in space at the edge of the area but the striker failed to work the Locos keeper with his rasping effort which was a foot or so wide of the upright.

A last ditch tackle from Park denied Barrie Stephen a scoring opportunity as the speedy striker looked to latch onto an Urquhart through ball in behind the visiting defence.
Locos made a couple of changes with Fraser and Low making way for Reid and Bissett respectively but the Garioch side couldn't find a way through Vale's stubborn back-four who were now looking a lot more solid than in the first forty-five.

Ross had a half chance which he fired wide before Vale passed up a great opportunity to stretch their lead. Chisholm broke clear from the halfway line but elected to shoot rather than square the ball to the unmarked Mike McKenzie and to make matters worse he rather smothered his shot leaving Thain with a relatively easy save. McKenzie should have scored the goal he deserved nine minutes from time but Thain saved his initial effort before the tireless striker blasted the loose ball over the top from 6-yards.
Thain brilliantly palmed an Urquhart pot-shot to safety following a McAllister corner form the right in what turned out to be the last chance of the match.

Barrie Stephen was voted the sponsor's man-of-the-match.

A pleased Gregg Carrol sang the praises of his players for their hard shift, which keeps their good run of form going and his side at the top of the table.
"We started well and got the early goal but then we took our foot off the pedal and allowed Inverurie back into the game although in all fairness Locos were good for their early lead. But once we got ourselves back in front their was only going to one winner in my eyes" said the Vale boss.
"The second half was a bit of a none event but the job was done and although Locos still came at us we defended much better and never really looked like losing another" added Carrol.
On the Ian Murray injury Carrol said, "Ian took a bad one in the back of the ankle and went to hospital to get it checked out, however we don't know at this stage how long he'll be out for but it is a mayor blow with the big games now starting to come thick and fast".

Vale:
Bremner, Dolan, Gray, Chisholm, Dlugonski, Anderson, #McAllister, Urquhart, McKenzie, Murray (L. Stephen 37), #B. Stephen
Subs not used: Sharp, Kidd, Pressley, Campbell

Locos:
Thain, Fraser (Reid 68), Buchan, #Wilson, Young, #Park, #Ross, Walker (Davidson 82), Low (Bissett 72), McKay, McWilliam
Subs Not Used: Copeland, Nicol

Referee:: A. Mather