Town couldn't make it successive wins on home soil as Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser struck in each half to send AFC Bournemouth back to Dorset with all three Premier League points.
The visitors avenged a 4-1 defeat on this ground last season as Jan Siewert's men scarcely caused their South Coast counterparts any real defensive headaches.
Elias Kachunga, Zanka and Aaron Mooy (his 100th Town start) in for Karlan Grant, Terence Kongolo (hip) and Jonathan Hogg (ribs) were the alterations made by Siewert in response to the defeat at Brighton last time out. Academy prospects Matty Daly and Aaron Rowe took up spots amongst the replacements - Daly's second appearance within the starting squad within a matter of weeks.
Eddie Howe's South Coast visitors had the first sighting of goal. A clever corner routine eventually worked its way to young Welsh international David Brooks. The winger came onto it from an angle, and didn't make an adequate connection to force goalwards in the opening exchanges.
Town's initial effort arrived courtesy of the reinstated Mooy. A wicked free-kick delivery from the apex of the penalty area flashed across goal and took a smart reaction punch from Artur Boruc to clear out of harms way and out of reach of the multiple blue and white shirts in the vicinity looking to prod home.
Bournemouth would've certainly been buoyed by the inclusion of talisman Callum Wilson, who was judged to have been fit enough to play a part in West Yorkshire. Wilson has frequently been a thorn in the Terriers side, and he very nearly broke the deadlock 15 minutes.
Scotland international Ryan Fraser slid Wilson in, who'd pulled away from his marker, and it took a confident save from Jonas Lössl to preserve the goalless stalemate; but not for long.
A swift move from the away side resulted in Wilson chesting into an empty net at the far post from a Fraser cross after the latter was sent perfectly on his way by David Brooks' through ball.
No chance of any meaningful stature would materialise in the aftermath of the Cherries' opener, as Town had the lion's share of possession in harmless areas despite being unable to trouble a fairly rigid Bournemouth rear-guard.
Alex Pritchard and Aaron Mooy combined to attempt to fashion a chance before half-time, but it would remain 1-0; a number of crosses failed to reach their intended destinations and it was all too easy for the defensive duo of Chris Mepham and Nathan Aké to mop up.
Seconds after the restart, the Terriers had a reasonable chance to level. Half-time sub Chris Löwe's near-post cross narrowly missed the head of Elias Kachunga which caused Boruc by surprise. The ball fell loose inside the six-yard box, only for a visiting defender to hoof away as no Town player reacted quick enough to take advantage.
Bournemouth always possess a major threat on the break, largely down to the electric pace of Wilson and Joshua King. King sprung the offside trap to race forward, and as Wilson beckoned in the centre unmarked, Zanka recovered timely to divert out of the eventual path of the cross.
Back at the other end, and strong shouts for a Town penalty were waved off by referee Anthony Taylor as Alex Pritchard fell under the challenge of Aké.
And the encounter was effectively killed off 20 minutes from time, as Bournemouth doubled their lead. It was roles reversed from the opener, as Wilson turned provider with a calm cut-back towards the run of Ryan Fraser at the far-post, and with no Town defender in sight, Fraser slotted home to make things all that bit tougher for Siewert's side.
Joshua King followed up in a bid to make it three; Jonas Lössl kept it out with strong palms.
One positive was the introduction of Aaron Rowe for a First Team debut; in the wake of that sub, fellow replacement Karlan Grant thought he'd reduced the arrears, but Chris Mepham had other ideas and produced a magnificent covering block to thwart Karlan's process of initiating the shooting chance.
An almighty goal-mouth scramble and wayward finishing halted King from hooking home a third, but that was to be that; not the result Jan Siewert was searching for in the hunt for back-to-back home victories.
Town have one fixture remaining before the March international break with a trip to West Ham United next Saturday (16 March 2018, 3pm).
TOWN (4-3-3)
Jonas Lössl; Erik Durm, Christopher Schindler (c), Zanka, Juninho Bacuna; Alex Pritchard, Jon Gorenc Stanković, Philip Billing (Chris Löwe, 46'); Aaron Mooy, Steve Mounié (Karlan Grant, 62'), Elias Kachunga (Aaron Rowe, 76')
UNUSED SUBS
Ben Hamer, Florent Hadergjonaj, Matty Daly, Jason Puncheon
AFC BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-1-1)
Artur Boruc; Charlie Daniels, Chris Mepham, Nathan Aké, Adam Smith (Nathaniel Clyne, 44'); Ryan Fraser, Jefferson Lerma, Andrew Surman (c), David Brooks (Dominic Solanke, 65'); Joshua King (Lys Mousset, 90'), Callum Wilson
UNUSED SUBS
Asmir Begović, Diego Rico, Jack Simpson, Sam Surridge
REFEREE
Anthony Taylor
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