Walters came close to Stoke’s second with an instinctive volley from a throw-in which looped into the side netting.
The Cherries were showing signs of lassitude and, with Matt Ritchie only on the bench, lacked their usual threat from wide areas.
Xerdan Shaqiri cut in from the right and smashed a low shot at Artur Boruc as Stoke continued to threaten and Bournemouth struggled to contain them.
A long ball from Erik Pieters gave Walters another opportunity to shoot at goal before a clever pass from Afellay found Shaqiri but the Swiss dragged his shot wide.
The first meaningful touch for Jack Butland came on 40 minutes as Charlie Daniels’ attempted cross threatened to creep under the crossbar before the England goalkeeper clawed it to safety.
Eddie Howe brought on Matt Ritchie and Joshua King at the break to add pace to the Cherries’ attack.
Both were involved in an early second half chance as King almost converted Andrew Surman’s pass before Ritchie saw his follow-up shot blocked.
But just as Bournemouth were starting to show some promise they fell further behind. Steve Cook misjudged Glenn Whelan’s pass and Walters snuck behind him before squaring to Afellay who finished crisply into the bottom corner.
Having waited a month for a goal, the Potters then had three. With almost his first touch of the game, Joselu rose superbly to meet Shaqiri’s cross to seemingly take the game beyond Bournemouth’s reach.
Who dominated at Vitality Stadium?
But not so. With the very next move of the game, Ritchie scored for the home side with a well-controlled sweeping volley from Daniels’ pass the keep the match alive.
It was five minutes which resembled the finish to Bournemouth’s home game against Everton in November when there were four goals in the final ten minutes.
Then, Howe’s side fought back to earn a draw but were unable to so here against the resilient Potters. Defeat leaves them four points off the bottom 3.
- Telegraph