Early home pressure was broken quickly after 14 minutes when a missed Sam Collins header was pounced upon by Darren Byfield, but his shot was denied by Mark Goodlad's sprawling legs.
Another one on one opportunity was missed when Andrew Crofts' through ball fell to Byfield again, but poor control allowed the ball to escape.
Vale's best chance arrived on 34 minutes when Danny Sonner chipped a cross in from the left but Nathan Lowndes' header was powered straight into Jason Brown's arms.
After several long range attempts at both ends, the best of the bunch came from Tony Dinning whose 20-yard drive flew barely wide of Brown's wide post.
The second half continued in a similar vein with rare pieces of impressive play being contrasted by dogged fights for possession.
The Valiants pushed forward only a minute after the break but good defensive play by Ian Cox forced Lowndes wide, leaving his shot harmless.
Michael Cummins was next to try his luck against the Gills' goal, but his header off a Micky Bell cross dipped just over the cross bar.
Brown was spared his blushes on 65 minutes when another Lowndes attempt, this time a low drive from 20 yards, zipped underneath him, luckily falling wide of his right post.
In an attempt to squeeze out the goal that the home team were desperately looking for, boss Martin Foyle refreshed his attack with the addition of Hector Sam, Jeff Smith and Chris Birchall.
After sitting back for most of the half, a counter attack in the 90th minute caused panic amongst the 5000 strong crowd, but a fantastic save by Mark Goodlad in his bottom left corner denied Crofts' spectacular diving header.