It wasn't pretty and it certainly wasn't entertaining but Gregg Carrol and his troops won't give a monkeys as they battled their way to another three points with their 20th league victory of the season courtesy of Jamie Watt's 70th minute strike.
The Banffers, who hadn't played a match for three weeks, looked nervy and a little ragged at times but gave their large travelling support the three points they yearned for when Jamie Watt tapped home from close range after Mark Smith had squared a Kenny Gilbert deep cross.
Fort William without a victory in the league all season did their best to keep Vale at bay with a sterling defensive display but on the other hand failed to seriously test James Blanchard throughout the ninety minutes and in the end came out of the match with nothing to show for their efforts other than some home pride.
The downpour prior to kick-off added some spice to the colourful occasion with the small enclosure draped in red by the vociferous "valley crew" as the players trooped onto the sodden Claggan Park surface to a noisy welcome.
Vale were, as expected, without the injured Mike McKenzie but otherwise were at full strength while Fort fresh from their encouraging display at Forres the previous weekend were minus the services of Sam McLaughlan as they looked to go one better than the narrow defeat they suffered in the League Cup quarters last week.

Ross McWilliam had the first opportunity to make the long trek worthwhile when he found space inside the penalty area after Ian Murray and Jamie Watt had combined to set him up but the experienced Mark MacRitchie blocked with his legs.
The heavy legged visitors came close again after eight minutes when Paul Urquhart just lacked the inches in height to meet McWilliam's teasing cross and as the ball was partially cleared Kenny Gilbert arrowed a fine strike just over the top from twenty-five yards.
A fine solo run by the inspirational Robbie Brown, who was celebrating his inclusion in the Scotland Squad along with Mark Smith and Mark Chisholm, was brilliantly ended by a well-timed tackle from Mike MacMillan after 'Brooner' had made good progress into the box and looked to pull the trigger.
The huge area surrounding the playing surface didn't help Vale's cause or flow as time and time again the ball went out of play and it was taking for ever and a day to retrieve even though the hosts did employ two or three idle looking ball boys.
Jamie Watt found room in behind the Fort defence to latch onto a Mark Smith threaded pass but Mark MacRitchie stood up well to block again with his legs.
Ian Murray then saw his freekick charged down by the defensive wall as the pressure mounted on the home rearguard.
Fort mounted their first attack of the match after 22 minutes but Blanchard easily saved Horsburgh's weak header from distance following a deep cross from the right flank.
Steve Dolan scooped wide from six-yards although he was in an offside position before Ian Murray was brushed off the ball inside the penalty area after Jamie Watt elected to pass to his strike partner rather than take on MacRitchie himself.
As the wind increased in the home side's favour they mounted their second attack of the match but Ross McWilliam got back to clear albeit over his own crossbar for a wasted Fort flag kick.

Inside the first minute of the restart referee David Watt penalised home keeper Mark MacRitchie for handling outside his area but elected not to caution the big keeper and Steve Dolan's resultant set piece was easily mopped up by the home defence.
Dolan then tried his luck with a dipping free kick but the ball failed to work MacRitchie as it sailed over the top from 20-yards out.
Ian Murray was next to pass up a decent opportunity but after cutting inside his marker he also fired over the cross bar from a decent scoring position.
Paul Urquhart had a low drive deflected inches wide of the upright and from the ensuing corner Mark Smith's flick was cleared off the line by Kim Nguyen.
Robbie Brown disappointed the rather subdued travelling supports when he blasted well wide with his left boot after being neatly played in by Ian Murray before Gregg Carrol decided to freshen things up.
On came Graeme Watt for the out of sorts Ross McWilliam as the Vale boss tweaked his midfield in an effort to find the net.
An important intervention by Mark Chisholm saw the skipper tackle Fort's Dougall as he looked to break clear after Bryan Dlugonski's untimely slip on the halfway line in the greasy playing surface.
The Banffers made the all-important breakthrough after sixty-nine minutes when a deep Kenny Gilbert ball to the far post picked out Mark Smith and with the Fort defence claiming for offside the midfielder picked out Jamie WATT with a cushioned ball back across goal and the wee striker did the rest although he really couldn't miss as the home side seemed to have lost concentration for a moment and were caught completely flat at the back.
To be fair to the home side they did make an effort to get back into the game during the final twenty minutes of the encounter but Vale comfortably held on to what they had and snuffed out any attempts by Fort to snatch an equaliser.

Gregg Carrol said, "I wasn't particularly pleased with the team performance although there were pass marks for Robbie Brown, who I thought was immense, along with the defence who although not really tested kept their concentration throughout the match but we need to do better than we did today against a side sitting at the foot of the table.
We now know where we stand and what is required as we travel to Cove on Tuesday night and let's hope for a better performance and the right result".

Fort:
MacRitchie, Nguyen (Graham 77), #Taylor, Russell, Macmillan, Hewitt, Sanderson (McIntosh 65), Pearce, Dougall, Haggerty, Horsburgh
Subs not used: Ellis, Cooper
Manager: Rab Mulheron
Vale:
Blanchard, Dolan, Gilbert, Chisholm (Cpt), Dlugonski, #Brown, McWilliam (G. Watt 62), Smith, J. Watt, Murray (Noble 77), Urquhart
Subs not used: Munro, Craib, Bremner (GK)

Referee:   D.Watt