Hearts 4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1

By Ronnie Esplin, PA Sport

Hearts went top of the Bank of Scotland Premier League with a 4-1 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Tynecastle.

The score, however, was no real reflection of a match the Highlanders contested keenly until a late collapse.

Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla headed the home side into the lead in the 19th minute but the visitors responded on the half-hour mark with striker Graham Bayne scoring from close range.

With three minutes of the first-half remaining Jamie Mole powered a Paul Hartley free-kick home but it was still all to play for until goals from substitutes Andrew Driver and Bruno Aguiar, in the 81st and 90th minutes respectively, tied up the points for the home side.

There were only minutes gone when Inverness keeper Mark Brown did well to tip an awkward free-kick from Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon over the bar for a corner while at the other end ex-Jambo striker Dennis Wyness drove just wide from 16 yards after another swift Caley counter-attack.

Hearts gradually took control and began pushing the visitors back. In the 11th minute Brown pulled off a great point-blank save from a Mole header following a terrific Neil McCann cross.

And in the 19th minute the home side eventually took the lead with home debutant Pinilla grabbing his first goal for the club.

Another superb cross from the left by McCann found the Chilean striker unmarked and he made no mistake from eight yards out, glancing the ball past the helpless Brown.

To the frustration of the small band of visiting fans, midfielder Roy McBain was finding himself in some great crossing positions on both flanks but could not produce an accurate final pass.

On the half-hour mark, Barry Wilson showed how it should be done when he curled a cross in from wide on the right and Bayne stooped in front of Tiago Costa to head home.

In the 39th minute another fine Caley move ended with a dipping Richard Hastings cross being headed inches past the far post by Wyness, the former Hearts player being replaced by Rory McAllister after landing awkwardly.

In the 42nd minute, after Hastings clumsily fouled Saulius Mikoliunas on the right, Hearts restored their lead.

Hartley threw in a wonderful free-kick and Mole rose at the back post to thunder a header past Brown.

Inverness had the chance to equalise five minutes after the interval when some hesitancy in the centre of the Jambos' defence between captain Steven Pressley and Christos Karipidis allowed Bayne to go through on goal.

But the Caley striker lacked the pace and conviction and screwed his shot wide of the target from 16 yards.

Inverness midfielder Ian Black then tested Gordon with a left-footed shot from distance which the Scotland keeper was happy to knock past the post.

The Hearts fans were not slow in showing their displeasure as the Tynecastle side stuttered from mistake to mistake but still there was no sign of a second Inverness equaliser.

In the 67th minute McCann rattled the bar with a vicious angled volley at the back post after good work by Mole on the right hand side.

Wilson passed up on a glorious chance to equalise in the 77th minute when he somehow failed to get on the end of a Ross Tokely cross which simply begged to be put away.

Caley were made to pay in the 81st minute when Jambos substitute Driver scored a third to seal the win.

The youngster had replaced McCann only six minutes earlier but when Tokely made a mess of clearing a Mikoliunas cross at the back post, he volleyed a terrific shot in off the crossbar.

In injury time, Aguiar, on for Hartley, made it 4-1 when he scored a well-worked goal from close range.

Teams

Hearts Gordon, Costa, Pressley, Karipidis, Wallace,Mikoliunas, Hartley (Aguiar 79), Zaliukas, McCann (Driver 76),Pinilla (Makela 86), Mole.

Subs Not Used: Banks, Beslija, Fyssas, Lithgow.

Goals: Pinilla 20, Mole 42, Driver 80, Aguiar 90.

Inverness CT Brown, Tokely (Duncan 82), Dods, Munro, Hastings,Wilson, Black, Rankin, McBain (Keogh 82),Wyness (McAllister 44), Bayne.

Subs Not Used: Fraser, McCaffrey, Morgan, Sutherland.

Goals: Bayne 31.

Att: 15,912

Ref: S Conroy (Scotland).

Taken from sportinglife.com