James Blanchard was the toast of the Vale faithful with an excellent performance between the posts for the Banffers, which included a first-half penalty save, to see off the challenge of Duncan Shearer's Buckie in yet another top of the table clash at a pristine looking Princess Royal Park.

With Vale one nil ahead thanks to Bryan Dlugonski's fine finish following a Ross McWilliam corner 'Blanchy' brilliantly fisted away Andy Low's well-struck penalty to keep Vale's lead intact, which they kept until the break. With just four minutes on the clock at the start of the second half Ian Murray notched Vale's second with a fine turn and finish from just inside the penalty box only for the hard-working Jags to pull a goal back through Donnie Munro within five minutes.

Paul Urquhart made the points safe for the Banffers with a close range header with ten minutes remaining after good play from Ian 'Molby' Murray.

Buckie, without injured strikers Shawn Scott and John Coutts, came into the fixture knowing that taking something from the game was a must after slipping up at Huntly last Saturday while hosts Vale were keen to gain some revenge for defeat at the hands of the 'Jags' in the final of the Aberdeenshire Cup final earlier in the campaign and went with the same eleven who saw off Forres Mechanics last weekend.

A bumper four-figure crowd greeted the players as the visitors got proceedings underway and after a tentative first ten minutes Ian Murray galloped into the Buckie 18-yard before flashing a low effort across Kevin Main's goalmouth but there were no takers in red shirts to meet 'Molby's' enticing cross-come-shot.
Paul Urquhart was then played-in by Mike McKenzie but the ball got slightly stuck between his feet before he could test Main with a grounder, which the keeper saved comfortably.
Souter pulled a long-range effort well wide before the homesters got their noses in front. Ross McWilliam's corner kick from the left was knocked on at the front post to find the unmarked Bryan DLUGONSKI 15-yards out and the central defender wasted no time when he drilled a first time strike beyond the unprotected Kevin Main for his first counter of the current season.
Mark Chisholm had the ball in the net again two minutes later but referee Fraser rightly blew for a foul by the Vale captain on the Thistle keeper as they jumped together for another McWilliam flag kick.

The visitors thought they had equalised when James Blanchard parried an Andy Low shot and the ball looked to be crossing the line before the keeper swung a despairing hand at it to scoop it to safety but as Ross McWilliam and Mike MacDonald chased the loose ball they collided and down went the latter under the shoulder to shoulder challenge. Referee Fraser pointed directly to the spot but the drama hadn't finished there.
Andy Low struck the resulting penalty high to James Blanchard's right but the former Dons keeper was equal to it when he dived full length to fist the ball to safety.
At the other end McWilliam forced Kevin Main into a save low to his left after Ian Murray sent 'Ringo' scampering clear and the winger had cut inside Paul Lamberton
Paul Urquhart had a goal chalked off after Mike McKenzie had threaded the ball in behind the Thistle defence to the willing run of the Vale number eleven but a late flag from the stand-side assistant called for offside against the scorer.
Mike McKenzie's dart into the box saw him come face to face with Kevin Main but on his weaker left foot the lanky striker's attempted lob failed to find the net or the in-rushing Ian Murray at the back stick.
James Blanchard made a vital save at the feet of Jamie Shewan following a Jags corner and as Vale broke quickly Ross McWilliam picked out Mike McKenzie with a cut-back from the bye-line but Kevin Main got down well to turn 'Mikee's' placed header around the post.
Blanchard made another stunning save minutes later when he twisted in mid-air to deflect an Andy Low fierce drive over the top before the keeper got down low to his left to turn a Neil Davidson header to safety as Buckie continued to push for the equaliser.
On the stoke of half time Ian Murray clipped the top of Main's cross bar with a trade mark 25-yard free kick after Paul Urquhart was harshly adjudged to have been tripped by Neil Murray.

Terry Kidd picked up an early yellow card for a poorly timed challenge on the busy Andy Low but the visitors failed to make anything of the resultant set piece.
Ian MURRAY took his goal tally for the season to twelve with a fine finish four minutes into the second period after a neat lay-off from Paul Urquhart set up the chance for the prolific goal scorer who made it look easy as he cut inside his marker before striking the ball low into the net from 15-yards.
Buckie weren't for lying down though and found themselves back in the game within four minutes. A well-worked move saw Donnie Munro get beyond the Vale back four before slotting the ball into the bottom corner with the inform James Blanchard unable on this occasion to prevent the ball bulging the net.
As the visitors turned up the heat on the Vale goal "Blanchy" got down well to Kevin Small's downward header at the back post to save at the second attempt.
Vale rode the ten-minute spell of Buckie pressure before responding through Mark Smith who fired a 20-yarder just wide before Ross McWilliam hit the side netting after a clever piece of play by Ian Murray.
Vale killed the game as a contest with a third counter when Steve Dolan's deep cross to the back stick picked out the hard-working Ian Murray and his poise and alertness saw him pick out the in-rushing Paul URQUHART with a deft stand-up to the opposite post and all 'Yogi' had to do was meet the ball at point blank range and head it over the line.
Kevin Small saw his volley clip the top of the Vale crossbar on its way over late on but it wasn't to be for the visitors on this particular visit to Banff where they had enjoyed a fair bit of success in recent seasons.

Vale manager Gregg Carrol said, "We were outplayed for long spells in the match as Buckie, with Kevin Souter in sparkling form, passed through us but to be fair to the lads they restricted them to very few goal scoring opportunities, especially in the second forty-five and when we did attack we got the goals that counted and that's the name of the game."
"Obviously we have 'Blanchy' (James Blanchard) to thank for a terrific performance between the sticks today and he was deservedly handed the man-of-the-match award at the end.
'Blanchy's' penalty save along with three others in the first half were huge moments for us in a very tight match which could have gone either way.
I told the guys at the interval to close down quicker as we allowed far too many crosses to come into our penalty area in the first period and apart from a ten minute spell after they scored the boys did well to limit the Jags to only two or three chances in the second half".
"We now have a Saturday off, which is a fine break for the lads after the recent run of tough fixtures, before we travel to Bellslea to face Fraserburgh in another massive top-of-the-table clash in a very exciting title race", added Carrol.

Vale:
Blanchard, Dolan, #Kidd, Chisholm (Cpt), Dlugonski, #Brown, #McWilliam, Smith, McKenzie (J. Watt 84), Murray, #Urquhart
Subs not used: Craib, G. Watt, Noble, Phimister (GK)

Buckie Th:
Main, #Murray (Davidson 75), Lamberton, Souter, Grant, Small, Davidson, #Shewan, Low (McGuigan 83), MacDonald (Smith 83)
Subs not used: Pirie, Clarke
Manager: Duncan Shearer

Referee: