Ben Barron netted a five-minute hat-trick in the first half to help Forres Mechanics to a 4-1 victory against Deveronvale.
Vale, who were looking to record only their second victory at Mosset Park since 2004, started the better of the two teams with Matt Jamieson forcing a smart save from Stuart Knight but Forres took a strong hold of the game with their three-goal scoring burst.
Barron grabbed their first after 26 minutes with a close range effort that deflected off a Vale player before producing a sublime finish to a Kane Davies ball across the face of the goal to net from 14 yards 90 seconds later.
He completed his quick-fire hat trick after collecting an Ethan Cairns pass to round Sean McIntosh and roll the ball into the empty net.
Vale got their sole crumb of comfort seven minutes after the restart when Innes McKay headed home from close range.
But the home side had the final say when substitute Shaun Morrison scored after 83 minutes from close range following a corner.
Forres manager Steven McDonald was delighted to see his side score four goals at home for the third match running.
He said: “At present our squad is stretched and like other teams we are tight for numbers so the players available battled well and some of the goals in the first half were really good.
“Deveronvale did well and I can see why their manager Craig Stewart is saying they are not getting the breaks required.
“We lost a goal early in the second half and Vale could have had another as they hit the bar but we dug in and finished strongly to get a fourth goal to seal the win.
“I’m really pleased for Ben (Barron) to get his hat trick. He is 17 and is doing really well for us so hopefully he can continue his good run of form.”
Vale manager Craig Stewart said: “We conceded a really sloppy goal and then we lost our way for a spell, losing another two goals in quick succession and from that we lost the game.
“We regrouped at the start of the second half and got a quick goal back but couldn’t get another when we were on top and then we lost another poor goal from a corner.
“We aren’t doing the correct things in the final third. I don’t mean the front two strikers I mean as a team going forward. We are making the wrong decisions and lack quality with the final pass so we need to be sharper in front of goal.
“We have put in plenty of effort once again but losing our way for that 15-minute spell cost us the game.”
Inverurie Locos 0-0 Huntly
Inverurie Locos and Huntly played out a 0-0 draw at Harlaw Park.
The result maintains short unbeaten runs for both sides but both camps were left frustrated by their failure to take maximum points.
Locos boss Richard Hastings said: “We lacked that bit of quality and started to make wrong decisions that led to half chances for Huntly.
“We wanted to keep probing but in the end neither side did enough to win game.
“I feel it’s two points lost because we were on our home patch.”
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Home centre-back Mark Souter came closest to scoring on the half hour when his header hit the post.
Nathan Meres wriggled his way into the visiting box but was denied by Huntly goalkeeper Fraser Hobday.
Iin 62 minutes, former Locos forward Andy Hunter almost made the breakthrough but his header was superbly saved by Andy Reid.
Huntly boss Allan Hale said: ” A point is fair. From our point of view the only thing lacking was our decision making in the final third.
“Andy Reid pulled off a great save from Andy Hunter which just proves why he’s been such a top a class keeper for so many years.
“The last six games have been brutal on the players, they tired a bit toward the end. It’s now six games unbeaten, I never felt we were in any danger of losing the game.”
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