Hearts 0-0 Inverness CT

THERE was yet another full house at Tynecastle, but yesterday the final whistle brought no accolades. Instead there was a chorus of jeers. The frustration was palpable as Hearts, unconvincing against an Inverness side brimful of conviction, slipped further behind Celtic in the title race.

For those keeping count, and owner Vladimir Romanov may be among them, Hearts have now dropped six points in four games under Graham Rix. Yesterday their perfect home record disappeared, but it could have been worse.

Inverness, wonderfully organised and resilient, created the better chances and were also on the wrong end of two dubious decisions.

With 16 minutes to go full-back Ross Tokely could have been the unlikely hero when he slotted home a low drive, unaware the main stand linesman was flagging for offside. It was Craig Dargo who was offside, but the Inverness players felt he was not interfering with play.

Even more strikingly, five minutes from time, Barry Wilson was convinced his side deserved a penalty when his pass inside towards Dargo was blocked by the hand of Robbie Neilson.

Paul Hartley admitted Hearts would have been expected to have had a spot-kick awarded at the other end in similar circumstances.

The midfielder was also clearly frustrated in his own role yesterday, forced to play deeper and more defensively in the absence through suspension of Julien Brellier. “I hope he changes it next week,” observed Hartley, who will surely be restored to his best position at Ibrox on Saturday.

Inverness more than merited their point. They have now only lost once in their last 17 away matches, but as their captain Wilson observed, their home form is of the kind that gets you relegated.

The visitors swiftly demonstrated an adventurous mood, Ian Black flashing a shot wide of Craig Gordon’s far post. It was a sign of things to come, for the ball zipped from one end of the pitch to the other.

It would be hard to imagine such circumstances without Rudi Skacel being an influence and his beautifully-weighted ball found Calum Elliot. Unfortunately the teenager was less accurate; his effort at goal blocked away when a pull-back would have found the unmarked and frustrated Michal Pospisil.

That was the story of the first half for Hearts. Enough possession to encourage hope, but not nearly enough quality football to undo Inverness. Indeed, the clearer chances fell to the visitors.

Within 60 seconds of the drama provoked by Skacel’s early vision, Inverness could have taken the lead. Andy Webster was the culprit, under-powering an attempted header back to Gordon. But the centre-half was rescued by teammates. First Gordon dived at Dargo’s feet to push the ball away, and then full-back Neilson cleared from the edge of the six yard box as David Proctor followed up.

Tokely charged forward down the flank before drilling the ball in low to find Proctor attempting an audacious flick which could have gone anywhere, but fell kindly for Hearts. Mix in a bit of aggro – Black enraging Hartley with a tackle that felled Neilson – and there was plenty of action, but Hearts under Rix have yet to show the slickness and enterprise which marked George Burley’s brief reign.

If Hearts were failing to convince, Inverness could not capitalise, their manager spurning the best chance by scooping a shot over the bar.

It needed a rare slip from an Inverness player for Mark Brown to find his goal under serious threat. Proctor’s attempted dribble clear from his own box invited Skacel to rob him, but for once the man who cannot stop scoring blasted his effort wide.

The natives were getting restless as second half started and the tempo from Hearts was certainly lifted when Pospisil slipped the ball through to Deividas Cesnauskis.The Lithuanian looked odds on to score, but Brown beat the shot away.

Still Inverness threatened, Dargo shielding possession before setting up Brewster whose shot flew just wide.

With just over 20 minutes to go, the chances came in a rush at either end. A Hartley corner saw Steven Pressley flick a header just wide and then Black thrashed a ferocious drive towards the Hearts goal only for Gordon to flick it over his bar.

Brewster then picked up the ball on the left touchline and launched an effort on goal which would have wrapped up the SPL’s goal of the season had Gordon not tipped the ball over.

Brewster steered another effort wide at the death. If it had been on target, who knows how the home fans might have reacted. A draw was frustrating enough with Rangers on the way.

11 December 2005

Taken from the Sunday Herald