Love him or loathe him, you can't help but take your hat off to match winner Ian Murray who on Saturday won all three points against his former club with a wonderful free-kick midway through the second half to close the gap between the Vale and league leaders Fraserburgh to just four points.
After the disappointment of losing late goals in their last two outings Gregg Carrol's boys pulled off a major victory in the title race especially after falling behind to the visitors when Gavin Wemyss shot them into a deserved first half lead.
Mark Smith pulled Vale level with an excellent equaliser to set up an intriguing second forty-five minutes which was screaming out for a piece of magic and Ian 'Molby' Murray came up with the goods when he sent a superb curling set-piece past Billy Gordon to seal the three points his boss so desperately needed.
Charlie Duncan's Broch came to Banff searching for the win, which would keep them firmly in the driving seat at the summit of the ScotAds Highland League but were weakened when stalwart Russell McBride was forced out of the billed 'match of the day' with an ankle injury.
Opposite number Gregg Carrol was also forced to make a change when Robbie Brown called off due to work commitments but welcomed back Kenny Gilbert after suspension who slotted back into Carrol's defence as did Mark Chisholm, who took up 'Brooner's' place in the middle of the Vale back four. Paul Urquhart made a rare start for the Banffers on the left channel and Ross McWilliam was re-instated to the right flank to give the side a bit of width.

The noisy 'valley faithful' cheered and chanted as their heroes kicked off and the obvious lift very nearly paid off when Ian Murray came close to notching an early Vale goal.
Mike McKenzie worked his magic out on the right wing before crossing to the waiting 'Molby' but his diving header was saved low at his post by veteran goalie Billy Gordon.
The home side continued to force the play during the opening ten minutes and Steve Dolan had a goal-bound strike blocked off the shoulder of Derek Milne following a corner kick but the visitor's defence stood strong.
Defensive duo Chisholm and Dlugonski combined to clear Broch's first major attack when Mike Stephen whipped a cross in from the left and then "Dougal" threw himself at Graham Johnston's strike to block for a fruitless corner.

As the visitors grew in confidence William West went on a fine run into the Vale penalty box and this resulted in the opening goal.
West danced around Gilbert and McWilliam before finding Gavin Wemyss with a pass and the striker got just enough purchase on the ball to see it sneak in at the side net to put his side one up.
A speculative long ranger from Bryan Dlugonski saw Billy Gordon have a moment of hesitation as to the whereabouts of where the ball was going to land but the experienced keeper got his body behind it and was able to gather at the second attempt.
The Banffers got themselves back into the match courtesy of Mark 'Rusty' SMITH but it was all down to the hard-working Ian Murray who latched onto 'Dougal's' long ball over the top of the Broch defence and his experience saw him wait for the right moment before releasing the ball.
Ross McWilliam was the man who was picked out and he in turn rolled the ball to the arriving 'Rusty' and Vale's top scorer fired a superb swerving strike past the helpless Billy Gordon from 18-yards.
James Blanchard's goal led a charmed life two minutes later when Trevor Fleming's header off Michael Stephen's corner bounced dangerously across the six-yard box but there were no takers in black and white stripes before it was hacked clear by Terry Kidd.
The visitors continued to have the edge as half-time came to a close without creating any clear cut chances or forcing 'Blanchy' into any kind of save.

A tentative start to the second period saw the game bogged down in midfield for the first ten minutes until Mark Smith tested Billy Gordon with an angled drive which the keeper was equal to when he punched to safety after good lead-up play by Ross McWilliam on the right.
Norris was next to come close when he raced into the Vale danger area to meet a cutback from the right but his effort fizzed across the face of 'Blanchy's' goal and harmlessly out for a goal kick.
Paul Urquhart passed up an even better opportunity minutes later when fed through on goal by Steve Dolan's weighted pass in behind the visitor's defence but elected to square the ball rather than shoot himself but found no red shirts in support.
As the temperature started to drop Mark Smith tried to warm the hearts and bones of the chilled spectators but his effort from distance landed in the proverbial 'row z'.
'Rusty' was in action again when he rose to meet a diagonal Mark Chisholm ball at the edge of the Broch penalty area and was fouled in the process as he jumped with Ryan Christie giving the Banffers a great chance to test Billy Gordon from the resulting free kick.
Up stepped Ian MURRAY and with pace and accuracy the diminutive striker send a superb right-footed effort over the wall and into the far corner of the net leaving Gordon with no chance.

Kenny Gilbert's timely challenge deep inside his own penalty area kept his side's lead intact as Broch threw bodies into the box in an attempt to haul themselves level and as the game started to open up Ian Murray and Mike McKenzie both came close at the other end.
Mark Smith headed past the upright before Paul Urquhart's volley found the bottom corner but Gordon turned the ball around the post for a disappointing McKenzie corner kick.
Vale came within a foot of making certain of the points when Mark Chisholm turned a Mike McKenzie fired low cross over the top from close range and as Broch broke to the opposite goalmouth Assistant Manager Kenny Gilbert used all his experience to block Mike Stephen's back-post volley in the last piece of action of a pulsating encounter.
Mark Smith, who had storming match, was voted the sponsors man-of-the-match.

A relieved Gregg Carrol, said, "I think we just edged the game although we had to work extremely hard for the points. The Broch are a young but good footballing side so we had to boss the midfield at times to stop them creating too many opportunities. The last couple of Saturdays have been hard to take after playing so well but the boys will enjoy this one and full credit to them as they worked hard in training during the week and again today. Having Kenny (Gilbert) back was a bonus as he has so much experience to pass onto the rest of the players as well as playing a pivotal role in our back four as we defended well as a team today closing them down quickly and throwing ourselves into challenges when required".
Carrol continued, "At the end of the day though it's only three points and counts for nothing if we go up to Brora next Saturday and don't show the same amount of commitment and concentration".

Vale:
Vale: Blanchard, Dolan, Gilbert, Chisholm (cpt), Dlugonski, Urquhart, McWilliam, Kidd, McKenzie, Murray (J. Watt 89), Smith
Subs Not Used: Craib, G. Watt, Munro, McKenzie (gk)


Broch:
Gordon, Milne, West, Dickson (#S. Main 73), #Christie, #Fleming (McLaren 83), Norris, Cowie, Wemyss, Johnston, Stephen
Subs Not Used: N. Main, Mackie, Thomson (gk)

Referee:  C. MacKay