CHERRIES completed their home pre-season campaign with a largely dour 0-0 draw against Bristol City this afternoon.

Eddie Howe’s men had the better of the first-half exchanges, before Sean O’Driscoll’s League One outfit dominated the second period.

Bobby Reid almost opened the scoring for the visitors as early as the first minute, but his curling from free kick from distance flew narrowly wide of Ryan Allsop’s post.

A defensive mix-up between centre-halves Tommy Elphick and Elliott Ward almost let in Albert Adomah after a quarter-of-an-hour, but Cherries captain Elphick recovered well to snuff out the danger, while Marc Pugh’s snapshot from inside the box moments later was deflected wide of the target.

Allsop was quickly off his line on the half-hour to deny Reid, before Frank Fielding saved well from Mohamed Coulibaly at the other end after some neat link-up play between the Senegalese and Eunan O’Kane.

As the half, during which chances were at a premium, drew to a close, Reid dragged his shot well wide.

Second-half substitute Sam Baldock was denied by a last-ditch Ward block having given the onrushing Allsop the slip just before the hour as the visitors looked to impose themselves. Baldock blazed over from distance moments later.

A left-foot piledriver from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas sailed deep into Dean Court’s flash new Ted MacDougall Stand, while the lively Baldock expertly shook off the attentions of Elphick 20 minutes from time before disappointingly failing to test Allsop.

Wes Thomas fed Pugh just inside the box having latched on to Simon Francis’s glorious cross-field ball on 76 minutes, but the Lancastrian could only drive straight at Fielding and Fraser was only denied by Fielding’s save at the far post after the Scot met Pugh’s inviting cross on the volley.

Cherries: (4-5-1) Allsop; Butterfield (Francis, 55), Elphick, Ward, Daniels (Harte, 65); Coulibaly (McDermott, 80), MacDonald, Hughes (Fraser, 62), O’Kane, Pugh; Thomas.

Unused subs: Matthews, Stockley, Addison, Flahavan.

City: (4-4-1-1) Fielding; Maloney (Brundle, 84), Flint (Fontaine, 79), Williams (Carey, 79), Cunningham (Ajala, 84); Adomah (Baldock, 54), Pack (Harewood, 81), Kilkenny (Wynter, 65), Bryan; Reid (Wagstaff, 54); Taylor (Emmanuel-Thomas, 54).

Unused subs: Parish.

Referee: James Linington (IOW).

Attendance: 1,760.