CHERRIES ground out an important point in their quest for promotion, drawing a tense affair 0-0 against play-off hopefuls Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

Chances were at a premium throughout the contest with visiting goalkeeper Mark Travers twice impressively denying Morgan Gibbs-White to preserve the clean sheet.

The Blades should also have been awarded a spot-kick in the closing stages as the raucous atmosphere reached boiling point when Nat Phillips challenged Gibbs-White, but no penalty was given.

Filip Uremovic then had a golden opportunity to win it at the death, firing wide.

The point saw Cherries go seven points clear of third-placed Huddersfield Town, now with seven games remaining.

Scott Parker made one change from Wednesday night’s defeat at West Brom with Siriki Dembele replacing Jaidon Anthony. He dropped to the bench, where there were two further alterations. Jack Stacey and Gary Cahill dropped out of the matchday squad, with Chris Mepham and Robbie Brady returning.

It was the first time since January’s FA Cup clash at Yeovil that Brady had been named in a first-team squad, having stepped up his fitness following a calf injury by featuring for the club’s development squad in midweek.

Sheffield United were unchanged from their win over QPR, with top scorer Billy Sharp still ruled out through injury.

Both sides appeared to be caught cold by the early kick-off time, struggling to keep possession during the scrappy opening exchanges.

The only chances of note during the first 20 minutes saw Dominic Solanke do well to get to the byline, before being crowded out. At the other end, a stretching Oli McBurnie saw his diving header at the back post go wide.

Set pieces began to look like a decent route to goal for the hosts. John Fleck delivered a deep corner to Oliver Norwood, who volleyed over, before Lloyd Kelly had a heart-in-mouth moment soon after. A corner from the same side caused chaos in the box, with Kelly’s attempted clearance striking his own crossbar, before bouncing to safety.

Cherries slowly began to work some openings themselves, albeit without seriously testing goalkeeper Wes Foderingham. Phillips volleyed wide, before Ryan Christie was twice denied by the Blades stopper.

Dembele then dragged a shot wide before Travers was called into his first meaningful stop of the afternoon. McBurnie and Gibbs-White exchanged passes well before the latter got into the box and smashed towards the top corner, but Travers got his arm out in time to smartly tip the shot away.

A pair of corners almost yielded the first goal early in the second half. First, Fleck inexplicably fired a low ball across his own six-yard box, which flashed all the way through for a throw-in. Then, at the other end, former Cherries transfer target Ben Davies found space, but sent his free header off target.

The game felt like it was on a knife-edge on the hour mark, around which point Travers produced a huge save. After a slip from Phillips, Gibbs-White charged through on goal. Facing a one-on-one chance against Travers, the Republic of Ireland international stayed strong, racing from his goal to make a strong and vital stop.

Both managers turned to their benches as the match moved into its final 20 minutes, Anthony introduced in place of Dembele for Cherries.

But it was the two centre-backs who almost combined to break the deadlock. Up from a corner, Phillips nodded down a Christie cross for Kelly, who prodded just over the crossbar.

Phillips was then involved in another flashpoint with six minutes to play. As he went to clear a bouncing ball, the Liverpool loanee smashed into Gibbs-White, but referee Dean Whitestone waved the strong penalty shouts away.

Parker introduced Brady late on, but it was the Blades who almost grabbed the winner. A free-kick into the box fell at the feet of centre-back Uremovic, who lost his composure and fired off target.

Cherries: Travers; Smith, Phillips, Kelly, Zemura (Brady, 89); Lerma, Cook, Billing; Christie, Dembele (Anthony, 74), Solanke.

Unused subs: Mepham, Pearson, Cantwell, Lowe, Woodman (g/k).

Booked: Billing, Kelly.

Sheffield Utd: Foderingham; Uremovic, Egan, B Davies; Baldock, Berge (Hourihane, 81), Norwood, Fleck (Osborn, 72), Stevens; McBurnie, Gibbs-White.

Unused subs: Robinson, Norrington-Davies, Jebbison, Ndiaye, A Davies (g/k).

Booked: Stevens, Fleck.

Referee: Dean Whitestone.

Attendance: 26,769.