Vale Boss Brian Brown says his side’s cup win against Banchory was the perfect response to last week’s penalty shootout heartache.
Goals from Ross Cameron and Ethan Furze secured the Vale’s passage into the third round of the Junior Cup – with Brian delighted with his squad.
He said: “After last week’s defeat it was a fairly down place. We did a bit of work during the week to lift everyone again, and Saturday was just about perfect.
“We’ve not had a clean sheet for a long while and we played some really good stuff. So I was really happy with the reaction I got from the guys.
“Sometimes you need a result to get it out the system, and Saturday being another cup game was ideal.
“It was probably the best we’ve played all season which was really pleasing. I was really happy with it.”
And he reserved praise for attackers Stuart Alexander and Ethan Furze for their patience last season.
The boss added: “There are some other players who could take a look at Stuart and learn from it. He’s been very patient.
“Last season he started some games but came on as a sub in a load more. He’s like a sponge who always wants to learn and you can see him getting better and better.
“He gives you absolutely everything every single week. He doesn’t stop working and playing wide on the left was alien to him, but he’s really picked it up. He’s been fantastic for us since the start of the season.
“You need to be patient in the first year sometimes, take a good look at things and learn from it. And he’s done that, and that shows the strength of our pathway. He came from our amateur team which is really pleasing.
“Ethan is the same. He’s been working really hard with Hughie Ward. A lot of time has been spent on him and you can see the rewards coming. With Greg Thackrey injured he’ll have to step up further, and he did that on Saturday.
“He’s a player who always wants to work hard and learn, and it’s great to see him getting his reward.”
This weekend the Vale welcome Glasgow University to the Millburn, with kick off 2pm.