ROBIN Hood was supposed to do the stealing, not Littlejohn. Adrian Littlejohn robbed a Cherries team rich in quality of a share of the spoils when he popped up to bag the winner for a poor Valiants outfit three minutes from time.

The 31-year-old, introduced as a 69th minute substitute, administered his sucker-punch when he headed home from close range after Sam Collins's huge throw-in had been flicked on at the near post by Steve Brooker.

And if absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder then Littlejohn's cruel knockout blow certainly handed Cherries a forgettable homecoming on their return to Division Two.

Despite being installed as among the bookies' favourites to make an instant return to Division Three, the odds on Sean O'Driscoll's side recording an away win at Vale Park had shortened dramatically by the time referee Graham Salisbury had blown his whistle to bring the first half to a close.

Cherries had dominated the opening period with Valiants goalkeeper Dean Delaney's man-of-the-match accolade unquestionably awarded on the basis of his inspired first-half performance.

In searing heat more akin to cricket, the 22-year-old stopper prevented Cherries from running up a commanding first innings lead as O'Driscoll's troops turned on the style in the opening 45 minutes.

But, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as a certainty in racing and Cherries paid dearly for failing to turn their territorial advantage into goals when Steve McPhee volleyed Vale into the lead against the run of play midway through the second half.

However, after James Hayter had bundled home an equaliser with 17 minutes remaining, it seemed justice would be done and the visitors would at least depart the Potteries with a point their opening day endeavours had more than deserved.

But their hopes evaporated when Littlejohn profited from close range after evading his marker to plunder the decider in the closing stages.

Cherries boss O'Driscoll was philosophical in defeat, bemoaning the result but praising his players' performance levels.

O'Driscoll said: "Obviously I'm not happy with the result. When the opposition's goalkeeper gets man of the match then you think you deserve something out of the game.

"But two moments of poor defending probably cost us and maybe that's the lesson we've got to learn in this higher division. We aren't going to get away with the same indiscretions that we got away with in the third division.

"I'm pleased with all the players. There were a lot of good things to come out of the game. I thought we controlled vast parts of it which is why we are extremely disappointed to start out second division campaign with a defeat.

"We've got no problems with confidence. It was just two indiscretions at vital times of the game. Perhaps we were a bit nave and it's something we are going to have to work on. People have to take responsibility and not just hope that their man might miss or might not get any chances.

"The players are disappointed because they lost the game, but not disappointed with the way they played. We just need to be a bit more focused and a bit more concentrated."

The stifling heat was described by Cherries striker Steve Fletcher as "the hottest I have ever played in", while Vale goalscorer McPhee likened the conditions to "playing in a sauna".

But the hosts were almost caught cold in the early stages when Steve Purches's fierce low drive proved too hot to handle for Delaney, the young goalkeeper fumbling the effort before a defender hacked the ball to safety.

Delaney then distinguished himself when he parried a thunderous drive from James Hayter over his crossbar before Wade Elliott saw another goalbound shot deflected wide following the resultant corner.

Vale, who left the pitch at half-time to a chorus of boos from the home crowd, rarely threatened Neil Moss as workmanlike Cherries both defended and attacked as a unit.

Although McPhee found the back of the net in the 40th minute, his effort was ruled out for offside before disallowed goal parity was restored when Steve Fletcher had a header chalked off for fouling Delaney on the stroke of half-time.

Delaney again came between Cherries and a legitimate goal when he superbly punched a stinging first-time volley from Marcus Browning over his crossbar after Garreth O'Connor had picked out his team-mate with an intelligent pass from deep.

At the start of the second half, Moss pouched a hopeful long range drive from Ryan Brown, the Vale defender's strike drawing sarcastic applause from the home crowd as it was the first shot their side had mustered in the game.

However, after Delaney had again saved well from Elliott, Vale Park positively erupted when McPhee opened the scoring in the 66th minute, converting with a right-foot volley following a centre from Michael Cummins.

But the somewhat premature chants of "We are going up" subsided just minutes later when the Vale defence failed to deal with O'Connor's cross before the ball found its way to Hayter who made no mistake from inside the six-yard box.

Both sides went in search of a winner, and, after Brian Stock had prevented a goalbound header from Andreas Lipa settling the issue, Littlejohn unlocked the Cherries defence to snatch the points.

Vale boss Brian Horton said: "I thought Bournemouth played very well in the first half. They are a neat and tidy side and I thought they played some good football.

"They restricted us to minimal chances and Dean Delaney kept us in it. It tells you something about the game because Dean got the man-of-the-match award and we were indebted to him in the first half.

"We had a chat at half-time and sorted a few things out. We had played too much in our own half in the first half, but we started to get a bit aggressive and started to play with a bit of passion in the second half.

"It's nice to get off to a winning start."