Bournemouth 1-1 Huddersfield

Huddersfield extended their unbeaten league run to 26 games but were held at Bournemouth in the first leg of their League One play-off semi-final.

Kevin Kilbane headed the Terriers ahead before Town keeper Ian Bennett brought down Rhoys Wiggins, but redeemed himself by saving Danny Ings's penalty.

Cherries' Donal McDermott levelled with a 25-yard shot on the hour mark.

Both sides had chances to win it, but will begin Wednesday's second leg at the Galpharm Stadium on level terms.

The two teams were unsurprisingly committed from the first whistle at a sun-drenched Dean Court, as speedy Bournemouth winger Liam Feeney caused the visitors problems on the counter-attack.

It was his long throw that created the first chance of the match after a frenetic first 10 minutes as captain Jason Pearce headed over the bar.

McDermott, whose parent club Manchester City are at Wembley for the FA Cup final, then burst through as his temporary employers continued to push for the opening goal, but the Irish youngster was denied by a good block by Antony Kay.

But the visitors drew first blood, after winning the first corner of the game in the 22nd minute.

Gary Roberts whipped it in with his left foot and Kilbane's powerful header shifted the balance of power as the visiting fans - buoyed by their 25-match unbeaten league run - sang "We are unbeatable".

But when Welsh left-back Wiggins was sent tumbling by Bennett moments later as he advanced on goal, referee Mick Russell immediately pointed to the spot - though with the home fans baying for a red card, the presence of a covering defender may have influenced Russell's decision to show the veteran stopper only a yellow card.

Teenage striker Ings was entrusted with the spot-kick, although he had to wait for Russell to deal with Huddersfield's protests - but Bennett dived well to his right to push the ball to safety.

Galvanised by their keeper's heroics, Huddersfield pushed for a second before the interval as the orange boots of Roberts swung in some dangerous corners, with Kay heading wide, seconds before Bournemouth broke but Feeney dragged his shot wide.

Huddersfield kept their composure after the break, and nearly grabbed a second when Arsenal loanee Benik Afobe looked offside but the flag stayed down as his powerful shot was beaten away by Shwan Jalal.

But just when Bournemouth's lack of invention threatened to dampen their enthusiasm, the ball broke to the impressive McDermott outside the box, and he rifled home the equaliser.

Suddenly, Huddersfield's defence - marshalled superbly until then by skipper Peter Clarke - looked rattled as Ings was tripped just outside the box, although McDermott's shot from the resulting free-kick crashed into the defensive wall.

Roberts remained a danger from set pieces, but Huddersfield's frustration showed as Scott Arfield was cautioned for tugging back Anton Robinson by his shirt.

Joey Gudjonsson had another good chance to add a second for the visitors, but blasted his free-kick over the bar, while substitute Marc Pugh's trickery down the left forced Bennett into action on a couple of occasions.

Bournemouth threatened a grandstand finish - but honours remained even and both sides can be relatively satisfield with their afternoon's work.

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