CHERRIES grabbed a much-needed point on a freezing afternoon at the Liberty Stadium but well deserved to walk away with all three.
Joshua King scored his first ever goal in a red and black shirt to put Cherries 1-0 up after ten minutes and should of doubled the lead soon after but his acrobatic effort was ruled offside.
Swansea then had two fantastic chances to draw level through Wayne Routledge and Eder but two impressive saves from Cherries keeper Adam Federici kept them out.
AFC Bournemouth doubled their lead in the 26th minute when an incredible run from Charlie Daniels, who ran almost the entire length of the pitch, picked out Dan Gosling who slotted home from close range.
Swansea hit back almost immediately after to drag it back to 2-1 after Cherries defender Sylvain Distin allegedly played Ayew onside so he could easily finish past Federici with an impressive back-heel.
This was not a popular decision for the 2,000 travelling Cherries fans, who felt Ayew’s effort should have been ruled offside. Ten minutes later and Swansea had drawn level.
Referee Andre Marriner gave the hosts a controversial penalty as Cherries right-back Simon Francis allegedly brought down Ayew, although replays suggested he tripped over his own feet.
Shelvey calmly converted the spot-kick to bring the score to 2-2 and send the home fans ecstatic and the away fans in an uproar.
That’s how the score looked at half-time and again at full-time, as Cherries dominated chances in the second half but couldn’t convert a winner.
Steve Cook had one of the best chances but volleyed wide from a corner and Glenn Murray’s header floated just over the bar.
Although Cherries, who enjoyed 57% possession, arguably deserved to win the game they will be happy with a much-needed point to end a run of four straight league defeats.
Cherries come up against Everton at home next week as they look to build on this ultimately frustrating but positive result.
Player ratings:
Federici - 8
Francis - 8
Cook - 7
Distin - 7
Daniels - 8
Ritchie - 7
Gosling - 8
Arter - 8
Surman - 7
Stanislas - 8
King - 9
MOM: Joshua King - his pace caused Swansea problems all afternoon and he grabbed a well deserved first ever goal for Cherries.
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