Town rushed into a 3-0 first half lead with a vintage performance which contrasted sharply with the dull show at Gigg Lane last week.
Andy Booth opened the scoring after just 2 minutes with a 10 yard effort after beating the offside trap.
Danny Schofield chested the ball down to him from Kenny Irons' set piece and the big striker couldn't help but smile as he acknowledged the travelling fans on his way back to the centre circle.
Wade Elliott once again proved to be a dangerous player and he was unlucky not to make adequate contact with the ball in the Town penalty area shortly afterwards.
The Fitness First stadium (formerly known as Dean Court) had a pristine playing field and both sides tried to play the ball on the ground with the Terriers having a much better game on the ball, off the ball and passing it around.
It wasn't long before they went into a 2-0 lead, on 22 minutes, when Chris Hay knocked in a spectacular right footed shot into the top corner of Gareth Stewart's net after Andy Booth had missed and Leon Knight's follow-up was beaten away.
Sean O'Driscoll was clearly not an inflexible man as he made wholesale changes to his side in the first half in order to try and rescue the game.
He brought on two attacking players in Derek Holmes and Richard Hughes and the Cherries began to make headway despite seeing the bouyant Terriers in imperious mood - Danny Schofield was one of many Town players who had a good shot on goal in the first half.
The game seemed over with almost 10 minutes to go until half time when Chris Hay raided down the right flank and crossed a sweet ball for Leon Knight to ghost in between all the Cherries defenders and head home for 3-0.
Many sides would have given up but, to their credit, Bournemouth soldiered on and Jason Tindall gave due warning for the second half when he came to meet a corner and struck a left foot effort which whistled past Martyn Margetson's post just before half time.
O'Driscoll certainly seemed to believe that the Cherries could come back from 3-0 down and he instilled this confidence into his players for the second half.
A mixture of deep defending from Town and a much improved passing performance allowed Bournemouth back into the game.
Wade Elliott sent one wide of Margetson's goal while Steve Jenkins conceded a free kick near the corner flag minutes later.
The warnings had been heeded but there was little that could be done when Carl Fletcher's shot came off the post and Derek Holmes pounced on the rebound to pull one back for the home side.
Doubts started to emerge and, as the home fans got behind their team, the Terriers started to give away free kicks and fouls in awkward places.
Bookings started to accumulate both Kevin Gray and Steve Jenkins received their fifth bookings of the season during this match - their suspensions would come into force against Bristol City.
The heat was on as Bournemouth piled on the pressure.
Leon Knight was closely marked and had to go off as a precaution with a knock.
Wade Elliott popped up again with a cross/shot which beat Margetson, who was off his line, but came off his crossbar.
The whole second half had been about how the Cherries had improved since the interval so it was no surprise when they pulled back another goal in the last two minutes of normal time to make the scores 3-2 and to give every Town fan in the stadium the jitters.
With 5 minutes of injury time to be added there was, of course, real late drama as Warren Feeney fell over in Martyn Margetson's penalty area with less than a minute of added time to go.
Steve Dunn ignored claims for a penalty as the Bournemouth striker was already off balance and, to the relief of the travelling support, the game ended with a 3-2 victory to the Terriers.
Read Mel Booth's match report in the Examiner on Monday. Have your say on this match via the message board below or the direct email to the editor on the right. Your submissions may appear in the Examiner.
MATCH FACTS
Bournemouth (4-4-2): Stewart, Purches, Feeney, C. Fletcher, Hayter, Melligan (Holmes 34), Elliott, Tindall, Broadhurst, Stock, Birmingham (Hughes 29)
Subs not used:Eribenne, O'Connor, Maher
Booked:Broadhurst, Elliott
Scorers:Holmes 55, Feeney 88
Town (4-4-2): Margetson, Jenkins, Gray, Clarke, Evans, Hay, Schofield, Irons (Armstrong 90), Holland, Knight (Heary 83), Booth
Subs not used: P. Senior, Moses, Wijnhard
Booked: Jenkins, Gray, Clarke, Knight, Holland
Scorers: Booth 2, Hay 22, Knight 36
Referee: Steve Dunn (Bristol)
Attendance: 5,307
Match points follow on subsequent pages.
FULL TIME
96 mins: Thomas Heary took the ball towards their corner flag but the Cherries were in a hurry and claimed the ball for another attack.
95 mins: Warren Feeney fell over in the penalty area as he tried to shoot but he was already off balance and claims for a penalty were ignored by the referee!
94 mins: Jenkins crossed to the far post and Andy Booth went in hard on Stewart to try and win the ball but ended up hitting Stewart with his boot.
93 mins: Feeney jumped for a long ball from the Cherries but the Terriers won the free kick for pushing by the home side.
92 mins: Kenny Irons was withdrawn for Craig Armstrong as Lou Macari tried to seal up midfield and hold on to the win.
91 mins: Derek Holmes tested Margetson with a rasping shot.
90 mins: 5 minutes of injury time were added and the heat was well and truly on for the visitors who had their backs to the ball.
88 mins: Warren Feeney set up a grandstand finish when he hit a sweet finish into the top corner off the crossbar!! Town had defended too deep once again!
86 mins: Town pressed Bournemouth efficiently in the closing minutes, ensuring that chances were few and far between.
84 mins: Elliott's cross/shot found Margetson off his line and the Welshman was beaten only to see the ball come off his crossbar!
82 mins: Knight was in the wars and had to hobble off to be replaced by Thomas Heary as Town looked to protect their 3-1 lead.
81 mins: Leon Knight was flagged up for offside.
80 mins: Steve Jenkins slid in needlessly on a Bournemouth player and was booked. It was his 5th of the season and he was subsequently due for a suspension.
79 mins: Wade Elliott intercepted a clearance and combined with Richard Hughes to try and find Warren Feeney.
77 mins: Jason Tindall's free kick was poor and quickly cleared.
76 mins: Warren Feeney was tripped from behind by Chris Holland as he shaped up for a shot on the edge of the area. Holland was booked for his efforts.
75 mins: Broadhurst was tackled by Chris Holland during a Cherries attack. Margetson eventually caught the ball.
73 mins: Leon Knight was booked for retaliation after Brian Stocks went in with a late tackle.
71 mins: Chris Hay was closed down by three players as Town tried to look for the fourth goal which would kill off the Cherries but they found it hard to regain the fluent first half performance.
67 mins: Leon Knight stayed down after a challenge by Tindall and another defender. Alex Moreno came on to treat the injured striker who lay motionless on his back.
65 mins: Stock's cross was hit out by Evans despite the close attentions of two Bournemouth strikers. Evans then went off for treatment as Town's subs warmed up.
63 mins: Clarke tackled Feeney in a risky area and set off a counter-attack but Knight was adjudged offside.
59 mins: The home fans sensed more goals as they cheered their players on.
56 mins: Leon Knight's long range effort was over the bar.
55 mins: Fletcher's shot came off the post and the rebound was finished by Derek Holmes. Town's lacklustre start to the second half was punished by the Cherries.
53 mins: Jenkins conceded a free kick after bringing down Purches near the corner flag. Town defended deep and Stock's effort was well wide after a rehearsed Cherries free kick almost came off against the lumbering Town defence.
52 mins: Town went to sleep and allowed Wade Elliott a chance from outside the penalty box which flew wide out of the outstretched hands of Margetson and the goal. They were starting to defend deep again.
50 mins: Leon Knight was through on goal but Stewart made a good save.
HALF TIME
A standing ovation from the travelling support met the Town players whose performance in the first 45 minutes completely contrasted with recent performances.
Each goal was a great strike created from good movement, pace and passing.
Both full backs had licence to attack the flanks and overlap their wide midfielders and it was no surprise that they made their hosts look poor with a 3 goal haul to boot.
43 mins: Jason Tindall's left footed effort from a corner flew past Margetson's post - Town were strolling but the Cherries still continued to plug away despite occasional criticism from their own supporters.
41 mins: Derek Holmes went down under a challenge from Kevin Gray but the crowd urged the referee to book Kevin Gray - his fifth booking of the season meant a one match ban.
36 mins: Chris Hay's superb right wing cross was met with a bullet header by Leon Knight who had ghosted in between defenders and rose majestically to put the Terriers 3-0 up!
35 mins: Derek Holmes, the big target-man, was on now as the Cherries made quick changes in order to claw back their 2 goal deficit.
34 mins: Knight was flagged offside after a flowing Town move.
32 mins: Leon Knight delivered a sweet pass for Andy Booth to chase.
32 mins: Chris Hay hit a poor pass but he tracked down the ball after a 15 yard chase.
30 mins: Richard Hughes hit the flat free kick towards Warren Feeney but he missed it!
29 mins: Clarke was penalised for holding Warren Feeney just outside Martyn Margetson's area. The Cherries made an immediate substitution - Birmingham was replaced by Hughes as they switched to 3-5-2.
27 mins: Danny Schofield's rasping shot brought a good save out of Gareth Stewart. Town were confident and everyone wanted a go on the Bournemouth goal.
25 mins: Town won a free kick for handball as they continued to exercise their grip on the game. Evans' free kick fell to Andy Booth whose downward header was just wide.
22 mins: Chris Hay made it 2-0 from 15 yards after the Cherries failed to clear from Leon Knight's blocked shot following a Booth miss.
20 mins: Jenkins had to make a clearance with Feeney and Elliott lurking for the rebound.
18 mins: Bournmouth counter-attacked well but Evans held off the advance until Jenkins got back to help out.
15 mins: Bournemouth looked a poor side after a bright start by the Terriers.
13 mins: Jenkins' cross was missed by everyone and Wade Elliott cleared under pressure from Chris Holland.
10 mins: Leon Knight and Gareth Evans put the pressure on as the Terriers closed the Cherries down effectively.
9 mins: Stock's cross was beaten out as far as Purches but Bournemouth lost out to Town in the tackles.
7 mins: Chris Hay won the corner after some great possession play by Kenny Irons but Irons blew his corner.
6 mins: Schofield was denied after a fine run and both teams tussled in midfield on the pristine pitch.
4 mins: Wade Elliott somehow missed his kick from point blank range in the penalty area. Margetson was around but Town had reverted to defending deep very quickly!
2 mins: Andy Booth tucked the ball away from 10 yards out after beating the offside trap! The Bournemouth defenders were flummoxed by a move involving Kenny Irons' free kick and Danny Schofield's chest down. Booth acknowledged the ecstatic travelling Town fans as he smiled his way back to the centre circle.
1 mins: Bournemouth took the intiative from the kickoff.
Steve Jenkins returned to captain the Terriers and extensive head protection following a minor gash suffered in the reserves in midweek. Adrian Moses dropped to the bench.
The Cherries were missing star defender Eddie Howe.
