The Highland League flag will be flying over Princess Royal Park next season after Vale secured the point they required to sew up the championship for the second time in four years.
Jamie Watt came up with the goods for the second time in as many games to set Gregg Carrol's side on their way and although Scott Fraser equalised late on and referee Scott MacDonald somehow added an additional five minutes injury time it proved incidental as the Red and White army shouted and cheered their heroes all the way to the final whistle before captain Mark Chisholm was presented with the trophy from the P & J's Raymond McRobbie.
Gregg Carrol was a understandably a very proud man as he took time away from the celebrations to say, "It's a brilliant achievement and even better than our first league title win as it has been such a close race this season.
We were anxious on the sidelines as the ref elected to play an additional five minutes and to be honest I'm not sure where he got the injury time from but the lads did very well to hold their nerve and secure the point.
I must pay tribute to the wonderful fans who were here in numbers and certainly acted as a twelve man - especially as we closed in on the trophy late on".
Vale skipper Mark Chisholm described the feeling as "the proudest moment of his life" as he lifted aloft the famous old trophy in front of the "Valley Crew" who had invaded the pitch at the final whistle.
The rucked and bumpy playing surface along with the tightness of the "Rainbow City Park" didn't make for a good game of football and the inevitable nerves saw Vale produce a gutsy rather than polished performance but the vocal Banff support cheered from start to finish and in the end weren't too bothered other than seeing their side pick up the all-important point from the tense affair.

A noisy welcome saw the players enter the fray and lock horns for the fourth time this season and the second in the south side of Aberdeen.
Paul Urquhart's long-range attempt at settling the Vale players' tension was blocked before Kenny Gilbert fed in Jamie Watt but the recalled Kevin Tindal timed his tackle to perfection to thwart the free-scoring striker.
Mark Smith blasted over from a decent position and this was followed up by Ian Murray's dig from distance but Ivor Pirie in the Rangers goal was equal to it.
As Vale continued to press Ross McWilliam volleyed over after good play by Jamie Watt and the Robbie Brown flashed a left-footed drive narrowly wide of Pirie's upright.
A Michael Ord fired cross flew across the face of James Blanchard's goalmouth but there were no takers before Hendry fired high over the top from distance as Cove replied.
Scott Fraser headed the first corner of the match over under pressure from Mark Chisholm and as play raged to the other end Kenny Gilbert's low arrowed effort was blocked by the home defence.
Six minutes from the interval saw Ian Murray's volley clear the goal frame before the title chasers came within an inch of opening the scoring. Murray's free kick bounced right in front of Pirie and as the ball broke loose Jamie Watt hit the outside of the post from point-blank range.

Cove upped the anti at the start of second period and Michael Ord's low strike was cleared by Bryan Dlugonski before it could threaten "Blanchy" but it was the visitors who grabbed the lead nine minutes into the half.
Steve Dolan's diagonal was met at the far post by Ross McWilliam forcing Ivor Pirie into a save low to his left and Jamie WATT was on the rebound in a flash. Pirie did well to block the striker's initial effort but could do nothing as the pint-size sent his second shot into the back of the net.
The noise in the enclosure increased ten-fold as did Vale's play and Ross McWilliam's volleyed centre just eluded Ian Murray, which summed up the strikers luck in front of goal of late as he looked to notch one more for his hundredth Vale counter.

Mark Smith, Kevin Tindal and Clark Bain were cautioned in quick succession as things heated up on the cut-up pitch and referee Scott MacDonald needed two or three sets of eyes to keep on top of the on and off the ball incidents.
The homesters seemed to be running out of ideas as time wore on and Gavin Hendry's ambitious strike from all of 30-yards summed up how things were going for them.
It took 83 minutes but Duncan finally had the Gers' first strike on target although "Blanchy" wasn't worked hard as he clutched the ball into his chest.
A vital challenge on Ian Murray by Scott Fraser denied the diminutive striker a clear run at goal before Cove through caution to the wind and sent the big defender up top for the remaining five minutes of normal time.
Incredibly within sixty seconds of the change of formation the home side equalised. A high ball into the box saw Mark Chisholm and substitute Keith Robertson challenge and as the ball broke loose Scott Fraser sent a thunderous shot into the net from 20-yards which had James Blanchard firmly rooted to the spot.
The remaining minutes saw the noisy travelling support biting their nails and with referee MacDonald adding an additional five minutes injury time it made for a frantic and nervy end to the encounter but Vale held firm to pick up the point which made them champions of the Highland League.

Cove:
Pirie, Cruickshank, Livingstone, Hendry, #Tindal, #Bain, Duncan, Cadger (Coutts 85), Ord (Robertson 69), Gordon (Steele 62)
Subs not used: Reid, Morrison
Manager: John Sheran

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

Referee:  S.MacDonald