Bournemouth always looked most likely to score in the first half, but they didn’t really worry the Vale side too much, Vale in turn, were a better side after the half time whistle.
Vale did have a couple of good chances late on in the first half when Marc Richards headed a Kris Taylor corner against the bar and the follow up by Louis Dodds was cleared off the line.
Vale went close again when Taylor smashed a curling effort against the post with the Cherries keeper beaten.
Bournemouth always looked dangerous going forward but when faced by a Vale back like of three central defenders, they had a job to find anyway through.
But the visitors did manage to hit the woodwork themselves when in the 65th minute Brett Pitman beat Chris Martin with a glancing header bit the ball came back off the post.
And when called upon late in the game the Vale keeper managed to stop a shot from Pitman that looked goal bound until Martin got a leg to the ball.
After the game, Vale manager Micky Adams told Radio Stoke: "I thought we started very tentatively against a good side.
"We should have capitalised on good chances before the half-time break, so I was disappointed still to be at 0-0 at half-time.
"I thought we should have had a penalty in the second half, but I was pleased for the players that they managed to get something out of the game."