A LATE Craig Cathcart volley denied Cherries their first Championship win since August 16 as Eddie Howe’s men shared a 1-1 draw with Watford.

Harry Arter's second-half stunner set the visitors on course but substitute Cathcart lashed home with seven minutes left.

Ian Harte had earlier missed a penalty in an absorbing clash at Vicarage Road.

Howe made three changes to the side that suffered a 3-1 defeat to Leeds in midweek.

New signing Artur Boruc was selected between the sticks in place of Lee Camp while Junior Stanislas came in for Ryan Fraser and Eunan O’Kane replaced Yann Kermorgant, as the visitors switched to a five-man midfield.

Watford were without the services of recently-appointed boss Oscar Garcia due to chest pains and skipper Troy Deeney – Hornets’ top marksman in 2013-14 – was ruled out with a hamstring problem.

Cherries had a golden opportunity to open the scoring within four minutes of kick-off. Callum Wilson was shoved to the ground by Gabriel Tamas as he burst into the box and referee Oliver Langford immediately pointed to the spot, but Harte pulled the penalty wide.

Watford then woke up and Daniel Tozser’s free-kick was headed off-target by Sean Murray, before a teasing centre from the lively Lloyd Dyer proved a fraction too far ahead of Matej Vydra.

A Stanislas daisy-cutter was scooped up by ex-Tottenham stopper Heurelho Gomes and at the other end Vydra again went close, when he directed Tozser’s delightful chip over the defence into the arms of Boruc with his upper leg.

Tamas, who was perhaps fortunate to escape a dismissal for his earlier challenge on Wilson, was subsequently stretchered off and replaced by Craig Cathcart.

Nine minutes before the break, the hosts created one of their better openings when Vydra chested down for full-back Daniel Pudil to hook past the far post from the edge of the 18-yard box.

It took a superb sliding tackle from Steve Cook to deny Vydra a clear run on goal before Wilson’s stoppage-time header from Simon Francis’ floated cross was palmed over by Gomes.

Cherries were denied the ideal start to the second half by the assistant referee’s flag. Andrew Surman’s well-struck shot from outside the area was parried by Gomes and although Wilson side-footed the loose ball into the net, the effort did not count.

Stanislas saw his shot deflect wide and Harte’s in-swinging free-kick was beaten away by Gomes, with Matt Ritchie’s follow-up only finding traffic.

The game was an end-to-end affair and finally Cherries’ made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute. Arter was afforded too much time and space 25 yards out and he unleashed a wonderful left-foot strike across Gomes and into the top corner.

Howe’s men had a glorious chance to double their lead on the counter-attack when Stanislas found Ritchie and his pull-back caught Wilson unaware and the ball drifted harmlessly across the face of goal.

Cherries were made to pay with seven minutes remaining when a bout of head tennis in the area resulted in Cook’s header being lashed into the far corner by Cathcart.

Substitute Fernando Forestieri was booked for handball after he flew towards a cross at the far post, before Odion Ighalo shot straight at Boruc in a frantic finale.

MATCH FACTS

Cherries: Boruc; Francis, Elphick, Cook, Harte; Ritchie (Smith, 88), O'Kane, Surman, Arter, Stanislas (Pugh, 73); Wilson.

Unused subs: Daniels, Fraser, Pitman, Kermorgant, Camp (g/k).

Booked: Cook, Surman, Arter, Wilson, Elphick.

Hornets: Gomes; Paredes, Ekstrand, Tamas (Cathcart, 32), Pudil; Abdi (Ighalo, 72), Tozser, Murray; Anya, Vydra, Dyer (Forestieri, 57).

Unused subs: Munari, McGugan, Fabbrini, Bond (g/k).

Booked: Tozser, Forestieri.

Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands).

Attendance: 14,320