Inverness 1 Hearts 1

Battling Inverness continued to defy the odds after claiming a well-deserved draw with Hearts after a tempestuous Bank of Scotland Premier League encounter at Pittodrie.

The Highland side were clearly determined to stop John Robertson, their former manager, from leaving for Edinburgh with all three points.

Scotland international Andy Webster did not do his team any favours by being ordered off in the 33rd minute for his part in an ugly brawl in front of the dug-outs. He slammed Graham Bayne into the barrier and was accused of stamping on the former Dundee striker, sparking a furious reaction from both sets of players.

When football resumed, Caley gave as good as they got from a side which has real ambitions of negotiating the UEFA Cup group stages. They went behind to a hotly-contested Paul Hartley penalty, but Juanjo struck back, also from the spot, to add another precious point to their tally.

Both sides named unchanged line-ups after good results last weekend - but Hearts definitely did not carry the conviction of their 3-0 demolition of Dunfermline into the opening stages of this game.

They were sloppy and lacked any real penetration, although Robbie Neilson's drilled low cross in the 13th minute narrowly evaded Mark de Vries' outstretched toe. Seconds after nearly taking the lead, they should have found themselves a goal behind.

Ex-Tynecastle player Juanjo burst through one on one with goalkeeper Craig Gordon after Bayne's ball through exposed the Hearts back four. The Spaniard never looked confident of scoring and, although he neatly danced past the Scotland keeper, he did not take the ball with him and squandered an excellent opening.

Caley's plans were disrupted in the 15th minute when defender Grant Munro hobbled off. He was replaced by Canadian international Richard Hastings.

The game burst into life in the 33rd minute when Webster went in too hard on Bayne, forcing the Caley man into the wall beside the dug-out. His angry reaction, and the accusation of stamping from a furious Ross Tokely, prompted the other players into seeking retribution and the obligatory grappling and shoving match ensued.

After a prolonged period of peacekeeping referee Calum Murray decided that Webster's challenge was worthy of a straight red card, much to the annoyance of Robertson and his players, who furiously remonstrated with the official.

Kisnorbo and Liam Keogh, who were among the main protagonists in the confrontation, were also booked for their efforts.

When football resumed, Caley continued to create the better opportunities and Bayne can count himself unlucky not to have scored with a fine downward header after leaping above Steven Pressley to meet Tokely's cross in the dying seconds of the half.

Robertson made two changes at the interval. He brought on Graham Weir and Michael Stewart for Dennis Wyness and Ramon Pereira, this move allowed him to pull Kisnorbo back to fill in alongside Steven Pressley at centre-half.

Weir passed up a great opportunity to fire Hearts ahead in the 60th minute, but got his angles all wrong and dinked a shot wide of the post after finding space in between of the centre-backs.

The substitute won a contentious penalty kick two minutes later, going down quickly after the merest of touches from Mark Brown.

The referee wanted to wait for his linesman's assistance, but when it was not forthcoming he decided to point to the spot. Hartley confidently dispatched a shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Hearts' lead lasted only six minutes, however, as Juanjo won a penalty for the Highlanders after being cute with his feet under the attention of Kisnorbo. The Spaniard immediately fell to ground as soon as the defender touched him, leaving the referee no option but to award the kick.

He dusted himself off to take it and confidently stroked a shot down the middle to win a point which may be priceless come May.

Teams

Inverness CT Brown, Tokely (McCaffrey 90), Munro (Hastings 15), Dods, Golabek, Keogh, Hart (Wilson 73), Duncan, McBain, Bayne, Juanjo.

Subs Not Used: Fraser, Proctor, Prunty, Fox.

Booked: Keogh, Brown, Golabek.

Goals: Juanjo 68 pen.

Hearts Gordon, Neilson, Pressley, Webster, Hamill (Berra 84), Wyness (Weir 45), Hartley, Kisnorbo, McAllister, de Vries, Pereira (Stewart 45).

Subs Not Used: Moilanen, McKenna, Janczyk, Sloan.

Sent Off: Webster (33).

Booked: Kisnorbo, Weir.

Goals: Hartley 62 pen.

Att: 2,011

Ref: C Murray (Scotland)

Taken from sportinglife.com