By Ross Millen (@RossMillen)
AFC Bournemouth won their first match since October as goals from Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser in the gave the hosts the edge.
The Terriers were able to pull a goal back through Kongolo in the 38th minute but it wasn’t enough to break the home defence as they ran out 2-1 winners.
Eddie Howe made two changes to the side that lost against Manchester City. David Brooks came in for Ryan Fraser and Jefferson Lerma came back into the side for Tyrone Mings after his suspension ended.
Meanwhile David Wagner made one change to the defeat to Brighton. Laurent Depoitre came in for Mounie who was sent off in their last outing.
It was the away side who started brighter, as Aaron Mooy’s corner found Florent Hadergjonaj at the far post but his ambitious volley spiralled over the crossbar.
Only four minutes in, Josh King found himself full of confidence as he had managed to win the Cherries two free-kicks in quick succession.
Ryan Fraser stood over the second free-kick and put a low cross into the box which found Callum Wilson at the front post.
The England international met it perfectly and put the Cherries ahead with only four minutes on the clock.
Two minutes later the hosts had the chance to double the score line after King found himself with space in the box and chipped an effort towards goal but Jonas Lossl sent it out for a corner.
The corner was worked into the box by Fraser and the resulting header flew just wide of the post.
In the 20th minute the hosts managed to double their lead after Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser partnered up again.
Wilson played an inch-perfect through ball to Fraser who charged towards goal and calmly placed his shot through Lossl’s legs and into the back of the net.
It was the response that every Cherries fan wanted to see after losing the last four matches and the crowd were loving it as they dominated the opening period.
However, the dominance didn’t last long as the Terriers started growling down the home side’s defence and almost got a goal to half the deficit in the 24th minute.
A corner whipped in by Mooy was scrambled around inside the box and eventually helped on towards goal by Alex Pritchard but a collection of bodies on the line and a fantastic Begovic save denied the visitors a goal.
Only two minutes later Begovic pulled off a world-class save to deny Laurent Depoitre who had a free header at goal from just 6 yards out.
Then again one minute later he was called upon again to deny an Aaron Mooy free-kick which curled beautifully around the Cherries wall and towards the top corner of the net.
An onslaught of Huddersfield attacks were kept out one-by-one as the shot-stopper earned a glowing reputation amongst the fans.
The next ten minutes of the match appeared to be calmer until Terence Kongolo got the Terriers fans singing in the 38th minute.
Marias Jorgenson sent a cross into the box and Kongolo found the ball at his head and lifted it past Begovic to half the deficit.
As the half-time break drew closer, Pritchard tried to level the score by taking an effort at goal after charging towards Nathan Ake but it spiralled out of control and wide.
Referee Roger East blew the whistle for the break after a very exciting opening half. Huddersfield had the better chances as they grew into the game but the early dominance from the Cherries held them off.
The second half resumed with an early chance for Josh King after some lovely hold-up play from Callum Wilson gave him an opportunity to shoot but it dragged wide of the post.
From this moment on the ball was rarely seen in the Huddersfield half as they dominated the second half which chance after chance.
Aaron Mooy picked up a yellow card for dissent against the referee but was lucky to not be sent off two minutes later.
A late challenge had the whole crowd chanting “OFF” after the earlier incident, but he received nothing more than a talking to, the crowd was very displeased with the decision.
For the rest of the match he was set to be booed by the home fans at any opportunity he had on the ball.
Depoitre almost equalled the score line at the near post after a sliding effort beat Ake to the ball but it narrowly went wide of the left post.
With twenty minutes left to play the Cherries looked nervous on the ball and this was shown when Charlie Daniels gave the ball away to Pritchard who drilled the ball into the box but Begovic caught hold of it again.
Begovic came to the rescue again by catching an incoming cross by Florent Hadergjonaj which was aimed perfectly for the head of Depoitre.
David Wagner tried to roll the dice himself by making a double change in the 74th minute by bringing on Abdelhamid Sabiri and Isaac Mbenza in place of goal scorer Kongolo and Phillip Billing.
However, two minutes later after a heavy collision with Lewis Cook it was game over for Sabiri who looked to have injured his hand badly and therefore the final substitution was made to bring Ramadan Sobhi on.
Thankfully for Ake, Begovic was in top form after a headed pass back to the keeper was heading towards the bottom corner and a sigh of relief went round the stadium as the keeper claimed it.
Eddie Howe made his second change of the match in the 86th minute when Lys Mousset came on in place of Ryan Fraser who got himself on the scoresheet and also got himself an assist.
With only two minutes left of play the Huddersfield players were adamant that Ake had handled the ball, but it looked like a case of ball-to-hand in the replays.
The ball barely left the Bournemouth half throughout the second half, but the Huddersfield players were struggling to create that final piece of magic to break down the defence.
It was announced there would be five minutes of additional time to play and within this time the Cherries actually broke into the Terriers half, but it didn’t last long.
Josh King picked up a late yellow card for time-wasting but was then substituted off in the 92nd minute and replaced by Tyrone Mings.
Lewis Cook also picked up a booking late on as he tripped Mooy and kicked the ball away in an effort to time-waste.
The ball stayed around the edge of the Bournemouth box for the remainder of the injury time, but it never got close to back of the net as the referee put the whistle to his mouth.
It was much of a relief for the Cherries as they looked nervous on the ball and the dominance of possession by Huddersfield and 23 shots on goal had them holding on for the win.
Two early goals in the first half crept them back into 6th place in the Premier League ahead of Wednesday’s fixtures and most people around the stadium were relieved to see it over.
Steve Cook was announced as man of the match late on in the match and his defensive performance alongside Ake with support from Begovic in goal was what really made the difference in the game today.
AFC Bournemouth Starting XI: Begovic, Francis (C), Cook, Ake, Lerma, Daniels, Wilson, Cook, King, Brooks, Fraser
SUBS: Boruc, Surman, Mousset, Ibe, Defoe, Stanislas, Mings
Huddersfield Town Starting XI: Lossl, Kongolo, Hogg (c), Billing, Mooy, Depoitre, Pritchard, Jorgenson, Schindler, Hadergjonaj, Durm
SUBS: Hamer, Smith, Kachunga, Sobhi, Mbenza, Williams, Sabiri
Referee: Roger East
Bournemouth public express opinions on new vaping report