Pools were held to a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at The Vic in front of the live Sky cameras.

Ian Moore grabbed an equaliser for Danny Wilson's men after the visitors took an early lead but despite some good chances for both teams, they had to settle for a point each.

Despite early pressure from Pools at The Vic this evening, with early chances for Ian Moore and Joel Porter, it was Bournemouth who took the lead after just 16 minutes of play.

Kevin Bond's side, clearly out to take the limelight in front of the live Sky cameras, took full advantage of the counter attack with an impressive opener.

James Henry, on loan with The Cherries from Reading, showed good pace and movement down the left flank as he made his way into the Pools' area before unleashing a powerful shot which flew past Jan Budtz and his defence and into the top right hand corner of the net.

The visitors had chance to double their lead shortly after when Danny Hollands nodded a header at goal from a strong central position but this time Jan Budtz came out on top and held the effort.

From then on in, it was all Pools as Danny Wilson's men pushed forward in search of the equaliser, rarely letting Bournemouth out of their own half.

James Brown, who was recalled to the eleven after being rested for the midweek game with Morecambe looked rejuvenated as he found himself at the heart of most that was good for Pools early on.

The tricky forward jinked his way into the box on numerous occasions, carving the visiting defence open - just the final killer ball was missing.

Brown picked the ball up from Joel Porter on the edge of the area, dribbled his way forward before firing a testing shot at goal which went just wide of the far post.

Just minutes later and Brown was running into the area again - this time he fed Ian Moore but his final shot was deflected just wide for a corner.

For all their dominance and possession, Pools failed to really threaten the visiting goal and, as openings were created, there seemed a slight reluctance to hit the final ball goalwards.

As the half-time break approached though, Wilson's men upped the ante and, with a Jamie McCunnie effort from distance going just wide and James Brown seeing his curling edging just over the bar, the equaliser looked on the cards.

And it came right for Pools just before the break when a ball forward by Ben Clark was flicked on by Joel Porter into the path of Ian Moore. He remained calm when in a good position and stretched out a leg to poke the ball home, leaving the teams going in all square at half time.

Pools continued to dominate after the break as they pushed forward in search of a second, though once again it took a while for any real chances to materialise.

And when they did, the referee stepped in to deny Pools; a good period of pressure from Pools came to a halt when Josh Gowling seemed to stop the ball with his hand but despite the strong calls from the players and fans, Mr Swarbrick waved away all appeals as play continued.

The game was more end-to-end after that as the visitors also sensed a win from the game and Pools were working hard at both ends in search of three valuable points.

Richard Barker has Pools' best chance of the second half when he picked the ball up around 30 yards out on goal before working into space and firing a powerful drive at goal, which beat the keeper but rose just over the bar.

The visitors enjoyed their own spell of pressure as the game neared an end and, when Ben Clark lost out to Hollands on the right wing, Michael Nelson had to be alert to deflect Jo Kuffour's shot from inside the area wide of the target.

With Bournemouth clearly intent on taking all three points from this fixture, Pools were lucky when a close-range effort from Hollands landed just right for Budtz to collect as the visitors upped their pressure.

Pools had a great opportunity to snatch victory at the death; David Foley picked up possession mid-way inside his own half before sprinting the length of the pitch, fighting off the challenge of the defender before driving low at goal. After doing everything right in his approach to goal, Foley saw his final shot go narrowly wide of the right hand post.

The signal that there were to be three minutes of additional time was met with loud cheers from the Pools fans who sensed victory was still within reach but despite late pressure from Wilson's men, with Michael Nelson adding his weight to the attack, there was no breakthrough and both sides left The Vic with a share of the spoils.

Next up for Pools is a tough weekend with a trip to Gillingham followed closely by a Tuesday night game at Swansea and Danny Wilson will know that his side needs to pick up some points in what is set to be a tough period of games.

Pools: Budtz, Gibb, Nelson, Clark, Humphreys, Moore, Boland (Sweeney 81), McCunnie, Brown, Porter (Foley 65), Barker.

Subs Not Used: Elliott, Antwi, Mackay.

Bournemouth: Stewart, Telfer, Gowling, Alex Pearce, Golbourne, Hollands, Karacan, Pitman, Cooper, Kuffour (McQuoid 78), Henry.

Subs Not Used: Pryce, Jason Pearce, Bartley, Cummings.