Mepham gives Cherries the Chris of life

Mepham was on hand to sweep the ball into the back of the net after Lloyd Kelly’s shot from Rodrigo Riquelme’s cross had fallen to him.

The goal preserved the Cherries’ unbeaten start in the Championship and was no more than Jason Tindall’s team deserved having dominated for long periods.

Earlier, Stipe Perica marked his full Championship debut by opening the scoring for the Hornets when he slid in to meet a cross from Ismaila Sarr in the 11^th minute.

And although the Cherries enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the first half, they found clear-cut goalscoring chances hard to come by.

Cherries goalkeeper Asmir Begovic pulled off a great save to prevent Sarr doubling Watford’s lead early in the second half before the visitors dominated for long periods after the break.

Joshua King and Dominic Solanke both went close to restoring parity before Mepham finally ensured they would not leave Hertfordshire empty handed.

King was handed his first start since the final day of last season as Cherries boss Jason Tindall made four changes.

Striker King, who came off the bench in the 1-0 win over Norwich last month, was joined in the starting line-up by Lloyd Kelly, Philip Billing and Lewis Cook.

Defender Kelly returned having missed the past four games with a hamstring injury with Billing and Lewis Cook joining Jefferson Lerma in midfield.

Dan Gosling, Junior Stanislas and Solanke were named on the bench, while Adam Smith was ruled out due to the knee injury he sustained late on at Cardiff.

The Cherries made a bright start with Jack Stacey in the thick of the action, the wing-back supplying two low crosses and then just failing to collect Lerma’s pass when well placed.

Kelly received the first booking of the contest after just 100 seconds following a clumsy challenge on Hornets frontman Sarr.

Sarr’s dangerous cross from the right was flicked away by Steve Cook as Perica looked to pounce behind the Cherries captain.

There was no reprieve for the visitors following a similar move, Perica nipping in at the far post to convert Sarr’s low centre to draw first blood after 11 minutes.

The Cherries were forced into an early change when Lerma succumbed to a hamstring injury with Solanke replacing him after 18 minutes.

Stacey outjumped the Watford defence to meet Diego Rico’s corner but could not direct his header towards goal under pressure from a defender.

James Garner followed Kelly into referee Tim Robinson’s notebook for a foul on Billing before Solanke drew a save from Ben Foster after letting fly from the edge of the box.

Danjuma won a free-kick in a promising position on the edge box, only for the Dutchman to fire straight at the defensive wall five minutes before the break.

Lewis Cook's speculative effort from 25 yards flew high over the crossbar before Nathaniel Chalobah nipped in ahead of King to intercept Stacey’s through ball.

Rico’s corner on the stroke of half-time eventually found its way back to him and, after the Spaniard had crossed to the far post, Solanke’s header dropped into Foster’s hands.

Asmir Begovic pulled off a superb save to prevent Sarr from doubling Watford’s lead after interval substitute Etienne Capoue had set up the chance.

Begovic narrowed the angle at his near post to keep out Sarr’s effort after the Senegal international had been sent clear by Capoue’s pass.

As the Cherries responded, Billing’s long-range strike cleared the post before King’s rasping drive flew inches over the crossbar after Solanke had laid off Stacey’s centre.

Solanke clipped the ball past Chalobah before unleashing a ferocious strike from 20 yards which Foster acrobatically pushed past the upright.

A swift counter-attack, mounted by Lewis Cook, ended with Solanke’s effort being deflected for a corner which was cleared by Watford.

Junior Stanislas replaced Danjuma in the 73^rd minute before Begovic was forced to beat away Domingos Quina’s stinging 20-yarder.

Rodrigo Riquelme replaced Rico with five minutes remaining before Begovic parried another ripsnorter from Quina and recovered to prevent Joao Pedro converting the rebound.

Riquelme's corner in added time was headed back across the face of the goalmouth by King before Mepham struck as the clock ticked towards the seventh minute of added time to earn the Cherries a point.

AFC Bournemouth: Begovic, Mepham, S Cook, Kelly, L Cook, Stacey, Lerma (Solanke, 18), Billing, Rico (Riquelme, 85), Danjuma (Stanislas, 73), King. Unused subs: Gosling, Surridge, Simpson, Travers (g/k).

Watford: Foster, Ngakia, Troost-Ekong, Cleverley (Quina, 64), Sema, Chalobah, Cathcart, Garner (Capoue, h-t), Sarr, Perica (Pedro, 82), Kabasele. Unused subs: Murray, Wilmot, Sierralta, Bachmann (g/k).