Steve Dolan scored, arguably, his best ever goal in a Vale jersey to grab a share of the points for the Banffers with just two minutes remaining after they had trailed at the interval by two-goals to nil and by a man when Robbie Brown was dismissed for lashing out at Colin Milne in an early off the ball incident.
League Cup final hopefuls Cove and Vale locked horns for just the second time this season and with the Allan Park side getting the better of the Banffers earlier on in the campaign Vale were out to gain some revenge and avoid their hosts completing a very rare double over Gregg Carrol's outfit.
Cove drew first blood when Colin Milne slotted home a penalty on the quarter hour before Scott Fraser doubled their advantage, heading home from close range a minute after Robbie Brown saw red for the first time this season for swinging a punch at Colin Milne.
However the small band of faithful Vale followers were treated to gutsy second half performance from Gregg Carrol's side inspired by Grant Noble's well-taken counter, they Vale battled right to the death and were rewarded with "Dippy's" tremendous late strike.
Ross Bremner was back between the posts, which meant a place on the bench for Gregg Fowlie as Gregg Carrol went with the same ten outfield players who had done the business on Saturday at Fraserburgh.
Counterpart John Sheran elected to rest a few familiar faces and gave fringe players Niall Mullen, Scott Fraser and Clark Bain a rare start with regulars such as John Brown and top scorer Martin Johnston on the bench.

With John Gardiner and Duncan Shearer in the stand taking notes on their relevant semi-final opponents the game kicked off at a frantic pace with neither side seizing the initiative and defences rarely troubled for the first fifteen minutes.
Mark Smith, playing at right wing-back, headed a Kenny Gilbert free kick well wide of Ray Charles' goal and as Cove swept play to the other end they won themselves a penalty kick.
Mark Chisholm's attempt at chesting a through ball went horribly wrong allowing Niall Mullen possession at the edge of the 18-yard box and the frustrated "Chis" stuck out a clumsy right leg as the Cove midfielder looked to edge past him inside the area. Referee George had an easy decision to make and Colin Milne sent Ross Bremner the wrong way from the resulting penalty kick.
The opener seemed to give the "Toonsers" a lift but they certainly didn't need a helping hand from Robbie Brown when he firstly scythed down Colin Milne before throwing a punch in his direction after the free kick was correctly awarded. The referee was alerted to the incident by the stand-side assistant and "Brooner" was duly sent for an early shower. Worse was to follow for the Banffers when Richie Livingstone's flighted set-piece eluded a packed goalmouth before reaching the gambling Scott Fraser at the back post and he headed home at the second attempt past Ross Bremner.
Cove should have had the three points firmly in the bag on the half-hour mark when Paul Urquhart's pass back was well short and intercepted by Kevin Steel but Ross Bremner did well to push the former East Fife winger out wide although he still should have hit the target from granted, a more difficult angle.
Vale continued to fight on for the remainder of the half, despite being down to ten men, but were finding it difficult to break down the well-organised if not square looking home rearguard.

A tentative opening to the second period from both sides saw very little in goalmouth action although Kenny Gilbert did pick up a caution for a crude looking challenge on Colin Milne which must put the assistant boss very close to a suspension.
Gilbert was soon replaced by Ryan Pressley in a straight midfield swap and this was followed by a second change by Gregg Carrol, Mark Smith being replaced by Saturday's young hero Grant Noble.
Karl Farrimond, who moved across to the wing-back berth vacated by Smith, fizzed a corner across the face of Ray Charles' goal but no takers in Red Shirts were on hand to get the vital touch.
At the other end Ross Bremner pulled off a decent double save to keep his side in the contest. Brems firstly denied Kevin Steel when he tipped the winger's dipping headed attempt over the top before plucking a well-struck Clark Bain free kick from under his crossbar.
Bremner's saves proved to be vital, as did Steel's missed sitter in the first half, when Grant NOBLE latched onto a Pressley flick-on to drill an unstoppable shot past Ray Charles to give his side a lifeline and this seemed to inspire the visitors to believe they could take something from the match.
Mark Chisholm came within inches of meeting a Karl Farrimond corner but was just beaten to the ball by Richie Livingstone before Cove substitute Martin Johnston, who had just replaced Colin Milne, screwed an effort well wide when well placed to make the points safe for John Sheran's side after a mistake by Graeme Cadger.
Loud shouts for a penalty were turned down by referee George when the ball seemed to strike the arm of Fraser as he attempted to clear inside his own 18-yard box but to be fare to the man in black he was not in a good position to give the award.
A Steve Dolan low cross was cleared by veteran Bruce Morrison ahead of the lurking Graeme Cadger as vale piled on the pressure and it paid handsome dividends with just two minutes remaining when DOLAN lashed a stunning 25-yrd volley past a static Ray Charles for a deserved equaliser.
Martin Johnston pulled another effort wide before Karl Farrimond, who suddenly came to life late on in the game, almost grabbed a sensational winner for the Banffers but the ball flew just past the post.

Gregg Carrol thoughts after the game were as follows; "I thought we got off to a decent start and then conceded a poor goal after Mark (Chisholm's) error. We made life even more difficult for ourselves after Robbie Brown saw red and lost a second from the resultant free kick but we regrouped at the interval and thoroughly deserved a share of the spoils in my opinion".
"Young Grant Noble did very well when he came on and he's itching for a starting place right now although he did play for the under 18's last night so I decided to just give him the 30 minutes or so and all credit to him his second ever Vale goal changed the game for us". Carrol added, "It wasn't the best of surfaces to play on and the game is in your face for the full ninety minutes here but I've no problem with the result it was a decent if not brilliant Vale performance tonight".
Cove
Charles, Cruickshank, Livingstone, Mullen (McCraw 72), Fraser, Morrison, Bain, Hendry, #Milne (Johnston 80), Devine (Gordon 61), Steel
Subs not used: - Brown, Robertson

Manager: John Sheran Vale:
Bremner, Dolan, Kidd, Chisholm, Dlugonski (Capt), ##Brown, Smith (Noble 63), #Gilbert (Pressley 59), #Cadger, Farrimond, #Urquhart (Craib 75)
Subs not used: - Watt, Fowlie (GK)K)

Referee: S. George (2.5)