Vale felt defeat for the first time this pre-season when they went down to Third Division outfit Montrose at Links Park by four goals to two.
However it wasn't all bad news for manager Gregg Carrol as his boys gave as good as they got against their senior opponents and were in the end rather unfortunate to taste defeat as Carrol again rotated his squad ahead of Saturday week's opener.
The goals conceded by the Banffers however were all avoidable and this will give the Vale management team something to work on over the next week and a half before they face Inverurie Locos in their first league match of the season.

Vale started the match well on top and Mark Smith passed up a decent opportunity when he completely missed the ball ion the edge of the six-yard box with his unfavoured left boot after being set-up by Mike McKenzie, who was back playing at his old stamping ground and had received a warm welcome by the home support.
Bryan Dlugonski was next to pass up a good chance when he rose unchallenged to head a Steve Dolan corner wide from a great position.
However it was only a matter of time before the Banffers took the lead and it was new signing Ross MCWILLIAM who scored a very early contender for goal-of-the-season. "Ringo" ran near to the length of the pitch after picking up a loose ball following a Montrose set-piece before coolly dispatching the ball past the helpless Reid with Mike McKenzie brilliantly acting as the decoy as Vale found their hosts very few in numbers at the back.
Mark Smith saw his volley beaten away by Reid before against the run of play the Gable Endies equalised.
A corner from the left was met by substitute Willie Martin, who had only been on the field of play five minutes, and he headed firmly home as Vale's static looked at each other wondering why he wasn't picked up.
"Rusty" Smith sliced another half-chance wide of the target as the Banffers continued to force the play but a major defensive mistake saw Gregg Carrol's side fall behind. Skipper Bryan Dlugonski lost possession at the edge of his own penalty area to one of the Montrose Trialists and he in turn quickly turned the ball low into the six-yard box. Mark Chisholm seemed to be on hand to clear but fresh-aired leaving Martin with a simple tap in from virtually on the goal line.
The industrious Paul Urquhart passed up a great chance to equalise five minutes from the break he saw his shot blocked as he swivelled onto a Mark Smith threaded pass in behind the home defence.

Vale equalised six-minutes into the second half when Mark SMITH was allowed acres of space to head a Steve Dolan free-kick beyond Reid at the far post, six-yards out.
A great flowing move saw Bryan Dlugonski's dash to the Montrose bye-line very nearly pick out the in-rushing Mark Smith, who seemed to be everywhere.
The home side responded and Trialist dragged a decent chance wide of sub goalie, James Blanchard's right-hand post.
Willie Martin completed his hat trick when he again found far too much room inside the Vale box to head past the helpless Blanchard from a bread and butter ball into the mixer, with Dolan and Dlugonski questioning each other as to why he wasn't picked up.
Martin, the thorn in Vale's side, very nearly won a penalty for his side when he took a heavy challenge from Robbie Brown inside the area but credit to the free-scoring striker he tried to stay on his feet when others may well have gone down under the innocuous tackle.
Ian Murray was forced to leave the field under instructions to the Vale bench from the referee when the wee striker attempted to punch a Ross McWilliam cross into the goal; Murray was replaced by Grant Noble.
Mark Smith missed the chance of the night when he scuffed his 6-yard drive wide with only Reid to beat and then Kenny Gilbert saw his diving header blocked en route to goal as Vale tried their best to get back on level terms.
Following a re-shuffle in Vale's back-line which saw Danny Craib replace Steve Dolan and Bryan Dlugonski switch to wingback Montrose sealed victory when Webster cut-inside Craib before unleashing a fierce drive high past Blanchard and into the net.
Gilbert had a header saved by Reid before the keeper denied Terry Kidd with a comfortable tip over the top from Kidd's 25-yrd drive.

Gregg Carrol wasn't too downbeat when he said, "I thought we did very well tonight and if it wasn't for our defensive errors we might well have won the game but none-the-less it was another worthwhile workout for the boys".
Carrol couldn't confirm why Karl Farrimond has failed to show for pre-season, as he hasn't heard from him.

Vale:
Bremner (Blanchard 46), Dolan (Craib), McWilliam (Rae), Chisholm, Dlugonski, Brown, Smith, Gilbert, McKenzie (J. Watt), Murray (Noble), Urquhart (Kidd)
Subs not used: Slater, G. Watt

Montrose:
Reid, Donachie, Smith, Doyle, Stephen, Fotheringham, Webster, Trialist, Watson, Henslee, Trialist
Subs: Kerrigan, Hall, Cargill, Martin, McLean, Butter (GK)

Manager: H. Hall
Referee:  T. Brunton