“STAND and deliver!”

It was somehow fitting that it was a masked marksman who mugged Cherries of their Valentine's Day maximum.

Old enemy James Vaughan played the part of highwayman to perfection as dour, defensive and uninspiring Huddersfield pinched a scarcely-deserved point.

Admittedly, the usually liberal sprinkling of magic was in short supply at Dean Court but Cherries still dominated, controlled and threatened for large parts of this match.

Eddie Howe's assertion that Huddersfield had set out to “destruct and defend” was hard to argue with. The Terriers showed precious little inclination to bite with a game plan that was as frustrating as it was painful to watch.

But with the help of inspired keeper Alex Smithies, Huddersfield managed to hang tough at 1-0 as the home crowd felt the sharp pang of their side's Achilles heel.

A buoyant atmos-phere gradually gave way to a fearful silence.

Despite Cherries bossing a one-sided contest, the nagging sense of what was to come lurked in every quarter.

Cherries have taken the lead in each of their 16 Championship matches to date but just six clean sheets have followed.

On nine occasions, their opponents have equalised with Cherries dropping points in all but one.

It remains the most significant hurdle on the club's path to promotion glory with concerns over tiredness also lingering in the shadows.

But amid the disappointment it is easy to forget that Cherries still top the pile on the back of a four-match unbeaten run earned without hitting full stride.

This draw is a tiny blemish on their imperious record of 13 wins and three draws from 16 matches against teams currently in the bottom half with seven wins from seven on the road.

Perspective should not be lost over a lack of poetic justice.

Howe named one change to the team he had fielded for the previous three league outings with Adam Smith drafted in for the ill Simon Francis.

The respective intentions of both sides became clear from the off and Cherries carved out the first chance inside the opening three minutes with Steve Cook glancing wide from Matt Ritchie's fizzing free-kick.

Yann Kermorgant might have done more with Ritchie's deep centre but cleared the crossbar, while Smithies was at full stretch to push away Ritchie's dipping piledriver moments later.

Cherries were gradually building up a head of steam and it came as no surprise when Kermorgant opened the scoring with a perfectly-executed set-piece routine.

Ritchie curled a low corner to the edge of the box with Harry Arter's deceptive step over enabling the Frenchman to steer a powerful effort beyond the despairing dive of Smithies.

Artur Boruc tipped away full-back Tommy Smith's ferocious swerving strike after a rare foray forward for the visitors, while Arter ended a direct run from the halfway line by firing inches wide from 20 yards at the other end.

Cherries piled on the pressure with Smithies again called on to deal with Ritchie's blistering low effort after a delightful passage of play involving Andrew Surman and Kermorgant. Callum Wilson lifted the follow up just past the post.

The hosts had started to enjoy long spells of possession with Wilson denied by in-form Smithies on the stroke of half-time.

A short respite appeared to do little to change the course of events with Smithies swatting away Arter's inswinging corner early in the second half.

Arter then blotted his copybook with a needless 10th booking of the season for a late, crunching challenge on Huddersfield bright spark Harry Bunn.

Having dashed from the middle of the pitch, Arter launched into an unnecessary tackle on the touchline that landed him a two-match ban, ruling him out of Cherries' trips to Brentford and Nottingham Forest.

And matters immediately took a turn for the worse when the Terriers broke to level midway on 65 minutes.

A half-cleared ball dropped kindly for Town full-back Jack Robinson to skew wide from distance but before his wild effort bounced out of play, Vaughan flicked it towards goal and past the rooted Boruc.

Kermorgant almost hit straight back but saw his snapshot palmed away by Smithies shortly before Howe attempted to alter the course of events with the introduction of Ryan Fraser and Brett Pitman.

Fraser was at the hub of some neat moves in front of Huddersfield's 18-yard box but the visitors were content to camp in their own area with a point in the offing.

Pitman's cheeky backheel teed up Arter's rasping drive only for Smithies to produce his save of the day, palming over with most of the Steve Fletcher Stand on their feet.

From successive corners, Cook saw one header cleared off the line by Vaughan before a second was blocked by Smithies but frustrated Cherries could not manage a break through.

 

MATCH FACTS AND STATS

Cherries: Boruc 7.5, Smith 7, Cook 8, Elphick 7.5, Daniels 7, Ritchie 8.5, Arter 7.5, Surman 7.5, Pugh 7 (Fraser, 74), Kermorgant 8 (Pitman, 75), Wilson 7. 

Unused subs: Francis, MacDonald, Stanislas, Ward, Camp (g/k).

Booked: Arter.

Terriers: Smithies, Smith, Hudson, Wallace, Scannell, Edgar, Butterfield (Hogg, 88), Coady, Robinson, Vaughan (Miller, 82), Bunn.

Unused subs: Wright, Lolley, Wells, Gobern, Murphy (g/k).

Match referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey).

Attendance: 10,007 (including 391 away supporters).

 

STAR MAN – MATT RITCHIE

Had Cherries pocketed a deserved three points, the Championship’s standard-bearer for creativity would probably have been the man responsible.

Ritchie’s determination to make things happen and try something different was refreshing on a day where Cherries lacked the punch to match their endeavour.

Clever corners, dipping volleys and stinging shots, Ritchie’s repertoire was varied and delightful with the excellence of visiting goalkeeper Alex Smithies the only fly in the ointment. 

Lunging tackle apart, Harry Arter’s performance was packed with spirit and a joy to watch. Yann Kermorgant and Steve Cook stood out.