Kick-off may have been delayed due to a false fire alarm, but that was no excuse for Bournemouth and Watford’s defenders vacating the Vitality Stadium for the entire first half. A gloriously bonkers, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it opening 45 minutes saw six goals fly in from nine shots on target. Watford led 2-0, then it was 2-2, then 3-2, then Bournemouth clawed it back to 3-3. And as is often the case, order was restored in the second half. Defenders remembered how to defend and the scoreline did not budge from then on. Troy Deeney's thumping header after 14 minutes handed the visitors a valuable early lead A lightning-fast attack from the Cherries leaves Ryan Fraser with plenty of time to slot home the sixth goal MATCH FACTS, LIVE LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE BOURNEMOUTH: Begovic, Steve Cook, Ake, Daniels, Stanislas, Gosling, Lerma, Fraser (Mousset 82), Brooks, Wilson (Ibe 81), King. SUBS NOT USED: Boruc, Surman, Defoe, Rico, Mings GOALS: Ake 34, Wilson 37, Fraser 40 BOOKINGS: Gosling WATFORD: Foster, Femenia, Mariappa, Cathcart, Holebas, Doucoure (Cleverley 56), Capoue, Sema (Hughes 71), Pereyra, Deulofeu (Success 90), Deeney SUBS NOT USED: Gomes, Britos, Masina, Quina GOALS: Deeney 14, 28, Sema 38 BOOKINGS: Doucoure, Capoue, Deeney, Holebas REFEREE: David Coote ATTENDANCE: 10,261 Troy Deeney's opener came after the visitors strung an incisive 11-pass move together. Click here for more analysis from our MATCHZONE feature. So the spoils were shared but this game will be remembered as the one where the art of defending temporarily disappeared at the Vitality. Bournemouth thumped Watford 4-0 in the reverse fixture at Vicarage Road in October, which lifted them to fifth at the time. David Brooks, arguably the best breakthrough player in the Premier League this season, scored the opener in that triumph. The 21-year-old came close to repeating the trick when he landed a shot on the roof of Ben Foster’s goal within two minutes. Neither side had a grip of this game, but it was very much the calm before the storm. Javi Gracia hoped to end a run of seven successive New Year opening fixtures for the Hornets ALthough they fought back for a point, Eddie Howe's Bournemouth have just one win in five and sit 12th in the Premier League Deeney rose highest to nod home from Ken Sema's right-wing cross to open the scoring The Hornets were flying and Deeney capitalised to fire home his second of the night to double the advantage In the 14th minute, Watford stole the lead from their first chance when Ken Sema floated in a cross and found Troy Deeney. The captain directed his free header into the far corner. Ryan Fraser should have equalised immediately but instead of shooting into the space either side of Foster, he fired into the grateful goalkeeper’s arms. Gerard Deulofeu was wearing gloves, long sleeves and black tights, as if he had been warned about the South Coast’s cold climate. When he collected a loose ball from Bournemouth’s Dan Gosling inside his own half, the Spaniard certainly seemed warmed up. The 24-year-old sprinted for goal and only a Steve Cook challenge denied him as he was about to pull the trigger. Not to worry, though, as Deeney picked up the pieces to make it 2-0. Watford were lucky to still have 10 men on the pitch when Abdoulaye Doucoure recklessly stuck his studs into Fraser at a 50-50. Referee David Coote produced a yellow but replays showed it should have been red. Abdoulaye Doucoure was lucky to avoid a red card for a dangerous tackle on Bournemouth's Fraser The Cherries gave themselves a glimmer of hope as Nathan Ake pounced to nod home a close-range header Suddenly the game is all square thanks to Callum Wilson's looping header from the edge of the box However, Ken Sema's first ever goal for Watford puts the hosts behind yet again before half-time The first-half drama was far from over. Between the 34th and 40th minutes, we witnessed six goals. First, Bournemouth’s Gosling saw a powerful header wonderfully saved by Foster but Nathan Ake picked up the rebound for 2-1. Then, Fraser whipped in a cross and Callum Wilson showed why Chelsea are admirers of his as he headed beyond Foster beautifully. The celebrations were short-lived. With a whack of his left foot, Sema caught Asmir Begovic off guard and made it 3-2 from 20 yards. Yet Fraser made up for his earlier miss as he found the bottom corner after Junior Stanislas’ low cross was excellently dummied by three Bournemouth players. The lead lasts barely two minutes before Fraser converts clinically from Joshua King's smart dummy Despite conceding three goals, Watford stopper Ben Foster still made eight saves to earn his side a valuable away draw A late stop when one-on-one against King proved particularly important from the senior England keeper At half time, the Vitality Stadium announcer revealed the lucky raffle winning numbers and the big prize – a Bournemouth door mat. Watford had indeed walked all over the home side, but the visitors had always gifted Howe’s men a way back. Harry Redknapp, the former Bournemouth boss and I’m A Celebrity champion, was watching from the stands. He would know as well as anyone how to handle a team talk after such a half. ‘Lads, please defend’, would have sufficed for both sets of supporters and the players listened. Gosling was fortunate to escape with only a caution when he welcomed substitute Tom Cleverley to the game with a crunching challenge. Though they had never led in this game, Bournemouth were the ones asking questions. Only a remarkable one-handed save by Foster denied Wilson his second goal of the evening before he then smothered a shot by King. Watford screamed for a spot-kick in stoppage time and replays did indeed show the ball struck the outstretched arm of Ake. Coote was in no mood for late drama. There was to be no winner, and a ridiculously open first half was followed by a somewhat subdued second. All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility