Debutant sub Kenwyne Jones headed an 82nd minute equaliser as Town and Bournemouth drew 1-1 in an exciting top of the table encounter at Portman Road, Freddie Sears having put the Blues in front in the sixth minute.

Mick McCarthy, whose side had dropped to eighth following the day’s earlier games, made three changes to the team which won at Watford a fortnight ago with Zeki Fryers making his debut at left-back for the suspended Tyrone Mings, while Teddy Bishop, back after a shin injury, came into the middle of midfield for Kevin Bru, who missed out with a calf problem.

Sears started up front alongside 23-goal Championship top scorer Daryl Murphy with David McGoldrick and Jonny Williams, who received a warm ovation as he walked to the dugout, both on the bench. Luke Varney began on the right of a four-man midfield.

For Bournemouth, top scorer Callum Wilson started up front despite manager Eddie Howe having said he expected him to miss the Easter matches.

The visitors carved out the game’s first chance in the fourth minute, Simon Francis laying the ball back to Matt Ritchie, who whipped over a cross which Ryan Fraser headed wide having got ahead of Blues skipper Luke Chambers.

A minute later, Town went in front via their first opportunity of the game. Cole Skuse’s cross from the left found Daryl Murphy at the back of the box. The Irishman was given time and space to play a pass across the area to Sears, who slammed home from six yards with Steve Cook playing him onside. It was the ex-Colchester man’s fifth goal for the Blues and his 19th this season.

The Cherries immediately looked to hit back, Ritchie finding Andrew Surman, who sent a ball across the Blues’ six-yard box from the right.

Moments later, Brett Pitman just failed to reach a cross from the left, the loose ball eventually falling for one-time Town trialist Harry Arter, who blazed over.

The visitors had been on top since the Blues’ goal but on 12 Varney fed Fryers in space on the edge of the box, however, the debutant left-back shot well over.

At the other end, Christophe Berra blocked from Wilson, then, as what had been a pulsating first quarter of an hour came to an end, Francis just got in ahead of Varney after the on-loan Blackburn man had been threaded in by Sears. Referee Robert Madley awarded a goalkick, however.

The Cherries continued to look threatening every time they went forward but with Town so far preventing them from creating any big chances. On 25 Chambers was booked for a late tackle on Ryan Fraser.

There was a scare for the Blues on 31 when Bishop stabbed the ball away from a Bournemouth player into the path of Pitman, but the striker turned his shot straight at Bartosz Bialkowski from the edge of the box.

The Town keeper was forced into his first serious save of the game six minutes later. Ritchie fed Fraser in space to his left and the Scot hit a shot which Bialkowski did well to push past his left post.

Arter was booked for a cynical foul on Tabb as Town broke before Bialkowski again saved from Fraser. The winger whipped over a cross which swerved towards goal and the Pole did superbly to tip the ball over at his far post as it appeared to be dipping under the bar.

Moments later, Chambers and Berra reacted angrily to Wilson rather obviously diving between them inside the area. The Cherries striker then shoved the Town captain and was spoken to along with his skipper Tommy Elphick but referee Madley kept his cards in his pocket.

Varney felt the Blues ought to have been awarded a penalty in the 42nd minute when his cross struck Elphick’s arm. Referee Madley awarded a corner from which the visitors broke after Fryers had slipped, the on-loan Crystal Palace man perhaps fortunate to avoid a booking for fouling Ritchie.

Bialkowski was in action again two minutes later, the Polish keeper punching away Ritchie’s well-struck 25-yard shot. The loose ball fell to Fraser on the edge of the box but his shot screwed well wide.

The Cherries kept up the pressure in the closing stages, Chambers blocking a shot from Francis on the left of the area, the full-back having got away from Jay Tabb. Soon after, referee Madley brought an riveting half to an end.

Having taken their early chance the Blues had largely been on the back foot with Bournemouth passing the ball around slickly and looking dangerous whenever they went forward.

However, for the most part Town had been able to limit the Cherries’ significant opportunities, while Bialkowski made a number of important and impressive saves towards the end of the half.

Sears scraped the first opportunity of the second period wide three minutes after the restart when playing the ball to Murphy to his left might have been a better option. Soon after, Bishop scuffed a shot through to Cherries’ keeper Artur Boruc.

There was a mix-up between the on-loan Southampton keeper and Cook soon after, the defender laying the ball back to him when he wasn’t expecting it and the Pole was forced to clear ahead of Sears.

But soon the pattern of much of the first half was restored with the Cherries looking for the goal which would get the back on terms.

On 51 Bialkowski was off his line quickly to paw the ball out of play after Charlie Daniels had escaped down the left. From the resultant throw, the keeper comfortably stopped Surman’s low 25-yard effort.

The chances began to come thick and fast for the visitors. Fraser crashed a shot into Chambers’s face from the edge of the area, then Berra blocked from Ritchie and Wilson shot into the side-netting from a tight angle on the left. Three minutes before the hour mark, Richard Chaplow replaced Bishop.

Town began to look more dangerous, but Varney’s 63rd minute effort from distance flew well over. Two minutes later, Yann Kermorgant replaced Pitman for the Cherries.

Fraser broke away down the Bournemouth left in the 69th minute and crossed to Wilson, who was unable to find himself space to shoot under pressure from Berra. Eventually, he stabbed the ball back to Ritchie, whose shot was blocked before Berra cleared the danger.

Despite that opportunity, the Blues were presenting more of a threat going forward than they had in the first half. Murphy failed to make the most of a break on 69, then four minutes later the Irishman won a freekick on the left, which was headed over ahead of Berra, who committed a foul, according to referee Madley.

Chris Wood replaced goalscorer Sears with 11 minutes from time, while Bournemouth brought on Kenwyne Jones and Adam Smith for Cook and Fraser.

Moments later, Varney went close to increasing Town’s lead, the 32-year-old tenaciously battling for the ball and breaking into the area before finding his path blocked by Boruc.

The Cherries finally broke through the Blues’ backline with eight minutes of scheduled time remaining. Ritchie whipped over a corner from the left and Jones got ahead of Smith to head home a debut goal with what must have been his first touch of the ball.

In the final minute Matt Clarke replaced Varney, who had suffered what appeared to be an ankle knock in his earlier collision with Boruc.

As the game moved into four minutes of injury time Arter scraped a shot wide, then moments before the whistle Berra conceded a needless corner from which the Cherries almost won it.

Ritchie sent over a ball to the far post which Kermorgant nodded back towards goal and Bialkowski reacted superbly to claw it away from goal. Adam Smith’s rebound was blocked by Skuse and moments later referee Madley sounded the final whistle.

While Town fans will be disappointed to have conceded from a set piece so close to the end, a draw - the fourth in a row between the two sides - was a fair result on the overall balance of the game.

Bournemouth again impressed with their trademark passing and movement, but the Blues showed their battling qualities to stay in front having come under a great deal of pressure having taken their early chance.

Man of the match Bialkowski made a number of vital saves, not least in the final moments from Kermorgant.

The result moves Town back to sixth but with fourth-placed Watford and Derby in eighth in action later this evening.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers, Smith, Berra, Fryers, Skuse, Tabb, Bishop (Chaplow 57), Varney (Clarke 90), Murphy, Sears (Wood 79). Unused: Gerken, Anderson, Williams, McGoldrick.

AFC Bournemouth: Boruc, Francis, Cook (Jones 79), Elphick, Daniels, Ritchie, Surman, Arter, Fraser (Smith 79), Pitman (Kermorgant 65), Wilson. Unused: Camp, Ward, Gosling, MacDonald. Referee: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire). Attendance: 22,672 (Bournemouth: 963).

Photo: Action Images

are_these_the_days added 20:15 - Apr 3 Hoofballers 1 Footballers 1 The fact that we didn't lose this game was nothing to do with 'containing the opposition' or 'battling tactics' . It was down to a fluke that they didn't score more. I wish that some of the time we could play like Bournemouth did today - after all it was always the way WE used to play
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EssexTractor added 20:16 - Apr 3 Let's be realistic and that doesn't mean being negative. Bournemouth are as a team and individually comfortable on the ball. They are comfortable at the back looking to play football from one end to another. Maybe sometimes they are over elaborate and yes they do look to maybe play for " fouls". But clearly their management, ownership is to create an attractive team. We know too little about our owner, what his true desires our. He has provided sufficeint funds for the wages of loan players but despite their wholehearted efforts their skill levels are sadly short. We brought on Wood , they brought on Jones. Today again our back four played with a defensive resilience that was admirable and the keeper made his best series of saves but all five of them have such woeful distribution skills. This puts so much pressure on the whole team as the ball simply comes straight back. The introduction of an even three quarter fit Williams may provide some of the quality so desperately needed for the last six matches, but the fear is that he will be a marked man and he Bishop and Sears , our three " nicer footballers" may just be outmuscled in that run up.

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bellazzurri79 added 20:18 - Apr 3 Wasn't impressed by Bournemouth what so ever!!!! Berra is a collusus! Is Callum Wilson out of his pocket yet?????? Mccarthy made a mistake by putting Clarke on in the final 10 mins.., we were at home... We should have gone for it and I'm afraid wood is not... 'Going for it' 3 easy games coming up nothing but 9 pts will do
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Lukeybluey added 20:19 - Apr 3 I personally thought Jay Tabb done well! Dogged like the rest of the team. Skuse was class at breaking up play and also played some good forward balls too. Sears was a thorn in their side constantly until he ran out of steam. Bart made some vital saves, and I thought our defence was solid. Varney for me was MoM. I feel we have a good chance if we play like we did today against the remaining teams.

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happybeingblue added 20:21 - Apr 3 thought game was taylor made for dids or williams to take a bit of pressure off and give us another option... still with varneys chance we could have made it 2-0 but a decent hard fought point...wilson is a cheat he did the same v boro diving about got a pen and armpit was doing the same first half! well done bart and fryers for his debut done well
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airliner added 20:24 - Apr 3 A bloody good result , stop moaning who ever is. Eddie Howe probably thought he was robbed and may it's true. Another robbery but what a team of cheats , falling over all the time. Hope they lose out on promotion, teach the cheats not to rely on the referee all the time. They have now been found out.
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:25 - Apr 3 needed to win,thought the defence worked hard.Keeper had a good game.Berra, Varney,Bishop put a lot of work in . Freddie Sears worked bloody hard as usual [ hope we can keep him ].BUT again we gave too much possession away by the way we play, Bournemouth looked slick and fast with their passing,We gave the ball away too much again by hit and hope.Had we won i would have taken an ugly win ,but we really MUST learn to pass the ball.We are still in the mix so its not all bad lets see if we can get the results with remaining games. COYB

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bluebrit added 20:38 - Apr 3 4 points from Watford away and Bournemouth at home - perhaps I'm missing something here but surely 95% of town supporters would have taken that - apparently not - we've not only got to get all the points but we've got to play better football than every team we play against. I'm sure most people came away from the game today feeling that they had seen a really tough, tense, competitive game, that could have gone either way.

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Jimmy86 added 20:42 - Apr 3 Really don't like Bournemouth or Eddie Howe. Not seen such a diving, cheating team down at Portman Road for a long while. Make no mistake about it, they had to play very well to gain a point out of us today. Whilst disappointing to draw, having been winning it took them 82 mins to score and from a set piece that came about after a big long hoof forward. They did dominate posession, but they didn't like us pressing them. The ref was terrible and was guilty of falling for all their play acting and gamesmanship. Maybe cheats do prosper afterall. He gave them a lot of free kicks coz they rolled around a lot, they gotta Realise it's a man's game!! Good performance, something to be proud of. Although I don't like Howe as he's a whinging child I would credit him for throwing on 3 attacking subs at 1 nil down. Mick doesn't do that when we're in the same position. Play like we did today for rest of the season and we should get on ok. COYB

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essexbluey added 20:50 - Apr 3 What a good game i enjoyed it and the result was ok. They smashed boro 3-0 in the last game. Just got back to southend and i see derby and watford are 1-1 at half time. Iam now a watford fan for the next 45 mins.
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KiwiBlue2 added 20:58 - Apr 3 In the end a good point. If we play well we should get 3 more points at Huddersfield. Wolves winning keeps them in as late comers so am looking forward to us seeing them off at theirs soon.......... go Watford ..........
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bluefeast added 20:58 - Apr 3 Subs were needed as we play again in 48 hours ,so its about squad management. Well done Mick to be able to actually think in the heat of battle , i on the other hand was shaking like a leaf to the extent of not being able to drink my coffee…….
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Steelmonkey added 20:58 - Apr 3 bostonusablue - my thoughts are how did we not get all three points today. Two poor substitutions and an unbelieveable third. What message does that send to the opposition. Sears again was the most hope we had of getting more than a mere point from this game. Taking Bishop and Sears off completly lost the shape of the team. Two points lost MM. But i'm glad we are not a team to cheat our way into the Premiership. If we only gain a safe point at Huddersfield and the others ahead of us win then I think that's probably it for the season, barring miracles happening, I can't see us rising from the dead after Easter. Another poor ref today just where do they get them from.

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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 20:59 - Apr 3 Funny how we all see things differently. Today I attended a good , entertaining Championship game that both sides contributed to and both sets of players gave 100%. Bournemouth certainly played some cracking football ( that's why they were top !! )but I honestly believe we deserved our point. Bart, Berra and Varney the stand outs for me today. Oh and a lot of the people on here saying we robbed Bournemouth would no doubt be the same people who if we had dominated for large periods and got a late leveler would have been saying " its no good dominating its goals that win games " or some such clap trap. 4 points from Watford and Bournemouth will do me. We must not relax against the supposed lesser teams now. Plenty more twists and turns me thinks. COYB

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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 21:02 - Apr 3 Oh and for those berating Varney's substitution I think you will find that he had a knock. He signaled to the bench that he needed to come off two or three mins before he did.
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jas0999 added 21:02 - Apr 3 I thought it was a decent game and in reality a fair result. We didn't deserve to lose primarily due to the excellent work ethic and effort we put in. Yet, honestly, Bournemouth also deserved something; they played well, have good players and our keeper made numerous saves. More than their keeper. The problem is the two teams below us both won AWAY from home. So we needed to win. Therefore disappointed with just a point, but pleased with the effort and can't argue the fairness of the result. But We now HAVE to WIN at Huddersfield.

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Cakeman added 21:06 - Apr 3 Well I thought it was a fine hard working performance which nullified a very strong Bournemouth. True it is disappointing to lose the two points but we are still very much in a good position going into the last six games. For me Varney, Berra and Bialowski deserve special praise. I always respect the opinion of others but I did chuckle when listening to radio Suffolk on the way home when someone sent a text complaining about Barts kicking. I would sacrifice his kicking week in week out if he makes saves like he did today which without doubt earned us the one point we ended up with.

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runaround added 21:07 - Apr 3 A fair result in what was an exciting game of different styles. Bournemouth are excellent at passing but we work incredibly hard & are not totally lacking in skill. After all the prematch talk it's somewhat ironic that they scored from a set piece whilst we scored from open play, whilst the diving from Bournemouth, especially Wilson was disgraceful and deflects from their total football style. Disappointing that we couldn't hold on but there is still a good chance of top 6, starting Monday at 'uddersfield

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Steelmonkey added 21:11 - Apr 3 Dozzells_Bobblehat - Well if it's not goals that win games then you should keep your clap trap shut. I know of no other way to win games. Perhaps you could let us all in on your secret. Yes four points is good against that opposition, but not at this point in the season, the others are opening a gap on us.
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rkl added 21:21 - Apr 3 Gutted to drop two points. Varney deserved to score, unlucky that the ball hit Boruc's leg, otherwise we'd been home and dry. Needless corner from Chambers to give away for the equalizer, has to be said. He was made to look exceptionally slow today. I don't buy into the comments that we got battered, Bournemouth were so impressive etc. It only shaped out like that because we scored so early. Another good game from Sears btw.

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Dissboyitfc added 21:26 - Apr 3 Today re-iterated the fact that we are a hard working honest team and to achieve results we need to play a certain way. Not pretty at all but we are hard to beat once again after our recent blip. Think we are a little too honest at times, i could see some of the bournemouth players going down had they have been barged into as Wilson did on Chambers back. And Bostonblue... i have to pick you up on two things, firstly Sears cost more than 10 grand and Tabby was superb, covered every blade of grass, put into some great tackles won some great headers and generally contributed a great deal to what was a hard earned point. Still think we would do better with a natural right back and right sided centre half, Smith is struggling there and its costing us as is the fact Chambers is no full back. COYB

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jake_lensen added 21:33 - Apr 3 Thought everyone gave 100% today, could say we were unlucky to concede the goal but on the other hand they deserved it in all honesty. In the end it was a fair result, just very frustrating that we done all the hard work defending their great style of play (at times) and then go and give away a goal from a set piece. Bournemouth play great football but it is unreal how much they dive/cheat. Thought Mick should have brought Clarke on when they brought Jones on and had 5 at the back to strengthen it up for the last 10/15 but apart from that he got it right, although i think Wood is useless and never really brings anything to the game when he comes on, but i think all in all it is a good point. Bialkowski man of the match.

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MickeyMills added 21:39 - Apr 3 Disappointing that we did not win, but what fighting spirit! We are still in the mix and put in a sterling performance tonight. I would like to say that although I have been detrimental to him in the past, well played Varney.
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Dozzells_Bobblehat added 21:50 - Apr 3 Steelmonkey - try re reading my post . That's not what I said .
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gorse added 21:52 - Apr 3 BB, Varney, Skuse, Berra, Sears, Murphy were all immense, great team effort and very reassuring to see at this point of the season. MoM was a lottery but definitely blue. Well deserved and hard-earned point against a Premiership-bound team. On their diving alone they'll fit right in. COYB!
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