Mike McKenzie emerged as the hero for Gregg Carrol's side with the only goal in a tense, hard-fought encounter played at a frantic pace and in front of a highly charged crowd to keep Vale's title charge on course as they grabbed another three massive points.

McKenzie made it a double celebration for Steve Dolan who turned out for his beloved Vale for the five-hundredth time, a fantastic achievement for the evergreen "Dippy" who seems to have been at the Banff club for an eternity, collecting (bar the League Cup) a full set of HFL medals in his thirteen seasons with the Vale.

Fraserburgh, minus the likes of Michael Stephen, Neil McLaren, James Geddes and Derek Milne gave everything for their long-serving manager, Charlie Duncan, but couldn't quite find the vital spark or piece of luck in front of goal to grab something from the encounter, which they probably deserved on the balance of play.

For Gregg Carrol it was another huge victory as his side continued their recent impressive form pulling six points clear of second placed Huntly with Inverurie Locos losing at Cove Rangers by a goal to nil although Forres Mechanic do have the games in hand over the league leaders.

Vale were fittingly led out by Steve Dolan as they went looking to complete the league double over title rivals Broch but were soon on the back foot as Charlie Duncan's patched up young side got in about them from the off-set and were only denied a clear sight of goal by a couple of borderline offside decisions which infuriated their boss as he remonstrated with the officials from the touchline.

An off balance Mike McKenzie fired Vale's first opportunity wide when sent through on goal by Mark Smith's ball over the top of the home defence.

Ian Murray had the ball in the Broch net soon after but the far-side assistant ruled it out for offside in yet another tight decision for the officials to call.

Billy Gordon, the veteran home goalie, raced from his goal-line to intercept a through ball intended for Ian Murray from strike partner Mike McKenzie and five minutes later another piece of magic from McKenzie only just failed to pick out the head of Murray at the back stick with his driven cross from the right.

Vale then won a free kick well inside the Broch penalty box for an illegal pass-back by Ryan Christie which Billy Gordon handled but the home defensive wall stood up well to firstly block McKenzie's effort before mopping up attempts by Ian Murray and Mark Smith as the ball ran loose.

Mike MCKENZIE struck with the only goal of the game seven minutes from the half-time interval after a mix-up in the home defence.

Mark Smith ran at the Broch back four before being disposed by Trevor Fleming but Billy Gordon's clearance cannoned back off the defender falling kindly to McKenzie and he wasted no time when he smashed the loose ball beyond Billy Gordon from an acute angle for his sixth of the season.

Graham Johnstone headed a foot wide of the post when well paced to pull his side level before Gavin Wemyss blazed wide from the edge of the box after Steve Dolan had been harshly penalised for a foul on Johnstone by referee Paul Cheyne.

Kenny Gilbert coolly chested a Trevor Fleming downward header off the line following a corner kick as the home side went in search of an equaliser at the start of the second period.

James Blanchard was then at full stretch to touch a Graham Johnstone low drive to safety as Vale were forced onto the back foot yet again by their young opponents.

The Banffers won their first corner of the match in the fifty-second minute but Steve Dolan's centre was easily gathered by Billy Gordon and at the other end Bryan Dlugonski, who along with Mark Chisholm were outstanding at the heart of the Vale defence, denied Gavin Wemyss with a perfectly timed tackle well inside his own penalty box.

Cowie's 25-yard speculative effort was well watched by James Blanchard, who flung himself to his right to pluck the ball out in midair, and as the game swung yet again quickly to the other penalty box Ian Murray fired well over following a free kick which was awarded after Trevor Fleming downed Mark Smith as he charged towards Billy Gordon's goal.

Vale couldn't have come any closer to making sure of the points when Terry Kidd looked sure to notch his first goal of the season when he met Mike McKenzie's cut-back from the bye-line but a bad bobble saw the midfielder volley his point-blank effort back off the face of the crossbar before being cleared.

The remaining twenty minutes were nervy from table-toppers Vale as they continuously cleared their lines without making any effort to find a fellow player, which encouraged the homesters to come back at them time and time again and had the "Valley Faithful" biting their nails and holding their breaths but some stern defending from the boys in red was just enough to keep their goal intact for the first time this year and pick up all three vital points.

A beaming Gregg Carrol said, "Yes we rode our luck and a draw might have been a fair result but it balances out over the campaign and we're just delighted to pick all three points in a cracking encounter where real chances were few and far between".
"It was a battle as it often is down here but as their manager said our back four were absolutely magnificent today and probably won the game for us".

Fraserburgh:
Gordon, Elrick, #N. Main (S. Main 77), Dickson, Christie, #Fleming, Norris, West, Wemyss (Thompson 85), Johnstone (McBride 89), Cowie
Subs not used: Buchan, Thompson (GK)
Manager:Charlie Duncan

Vale:
Blanchard, Dolan, #Gilbert, Chisholm, Dlugonski, Kidd, McWilliam, #Smith, McKenzie (J. Watt 79), Murray, Urquhart
Subs not used: G. Watt, Noble, Munro, Phimister (GK)
Referee: P. Cheyne