THIS was a game Hearts should never have lost having held a 1-0 half-time advantage. That they did surrender was again down to some inexplicable and errant substitutions as well as the late intervention of the seemingly ageless Craig Brewster.

The player-manager marked the first home match of his second tenure at Inverness with an exquisite winning goal in stoppage time. However, Hearts were guilty of self-destructing long before Brewster introduced himself and Alan Morgan as 86th-minute substitutes.

Just as the Edinburgh side seemed to be gathering momentum following last week's demolition of Rangers, they compromised the good work with two half-time changes that baffled everyone in attendance. The consequence was Inverness recording their first points of the season, meaning Hearts had beaten the league leaders then lost to the SPL's bottom side inside a week.

Journeying down the A9 on Saturday evening, Angel Chervenkov may have reflected with regret on his decisions throughout the afternoon. He rested one of the catalysts for the win over Rangers, Michael Stewart, believing the midfielder was not fit enough to start. However, he was introduced for the industrious Andy Driver at half-time whilst Andrius Velicka was replaced by Callum Elliot. At that stage, Hearts were in the ascendancy and looked capable of growing in stature. The subsequent re-organisation, which involved Kestutis Ivaskevicius switching from right flank to left, had a damaging effect.

Inverness monopolised Ivaskevicius' area and poured forward on top of left-back Lee Wallace throughout the second half. The Lithuanian refused to track back as opposing full-back Ross Tokely galloped forward relentlessly, and the pressure on the visiting defence eventually told with goals from Dennis Wyness and Brewster. At full-time, the adage of "never change a winning team" must have been prominent in the minds of travelling supporters.

Erratic and impulsive substitutions are becoming a feature of Chervenkov's time at Tynecastle. He and Anatoli Korobochka, Hearts' sporting director, made three half-time changes during the insipid defeat at Celtic Park last month, and Driver found himself withdrawn at Pittodrie earlier this season after a first half in which he had been busy if not productive.

On Saturday, the Englishman did produce, his shot careering off Ian Black for the opening goal. More importantly, as the second half would prove, his overall work-rate was keeping Tokely subdued and Wallace unburdened. All of the above made the winger's removal difficult to comprehend, and it was no surprise to hear assistant coach Stephen Frail distance himself from the decision.

"The management decided they wanted to change it at half-time and that's what happened," said Frail. "There weren't many chances but I still thought we controlled it but ultimately lost in the end. They had one or two chances and it's been last-ditch tackles or saves from Steve Banks which we will have to look at on the video and try to put right. You can't always be doing last-ditch tackles, we need to defend better up the pitch and match runners so that they don't get into these areas to cause us problems."

Frail was asked if the substitutes were pre-ordained. "I think it would be unfair to say that. I'm not sure when it was decided but I wouldn't have said it was decided before the game.

"I think with our squad of players, whoever we put on - and again no disrespect to Inverness but they are bottom of the league - we have better players.

"Whoever we put on should go out and be professional and keep the same level that we had in the first half and make sure we win the game. Even if we don't score any more goals, we shut up shop and go home with a 1-0 victory."

Korobochka wasn't prone to such rash switches when he and Frail were in charge towards the end of last season, which leaves Chervenkov as the common denominator behind the substitutions. An explanation at some stage from the Bulgarian would be nice, but on Saturday it was left to Frail and Robbie Neilson.

"Driver wasn't injured, it was a tactical change," admitted the full-back. "I don't know the reason behind it. I was a bit baffled as well. Driver was playing great. He got the first goal and he was tormenting them during the first half. They made a decision and we have to abide by it. I don't know what was behind it. We've got a big game on Tuesday, and maybe they were thinking ahead to that."

Chervenkov saw his lone striker system pay dividends against Rangers. However, without the powerful Christian Nade Hearts struggled to penetrate the resilient Inverness defence. The French striker did not recover from a cold and his deputy, Velicka, has always looked far more astute with a partner alongside him. Saturday was no different.

That said, Hearts did record nine shots on goal including an exquisite Larry Kingston free-kick which rebounded off Michael Fraser's left post in the 82nd minute. "Incredibly, although I thought we didn't play particularly well, I thought we controlled it," summarised Frail. "We went in at half-time 1-0 up having not started the game great, but from about 50 minutes onwards they got into it. They got the goal and then we hand them the initiative and ultimately lose the game."

Merely focusing on Hearts' shortcomings on Saturday would be negligent of Inverness. The hosts delivered a workmanlike performance which took on an increased fluidity as the game progressed and they began to smell victory.

Brewster's introduction will be construed as a managerial masterstroke, but the goalscorer was content to deflect some of the aplomb. "You couldn't have scripted it any better. It was an important goal but it doesn't matter how you score, the win was more important," he said. "I thought we were in the ascendancy throughout the second half.

"We competed well and made things happen. Eventually, we got the goal. I think maybe a major turning point for this club this season could be Kingston's free-kick that came back off the post. Then we scored the winner in the last minute. Little things like that can make big differences."

The biggest swing of the pendulum, Brewster agreed, came following Hearts' half-time substitutions. "They were buoyant after beating Rangers and for the last 20 minutes of the first half I thought they really controlled the game.

"I was pleased Driver never came out for the second half. He was stopping Tokely getting forward and I think some of the runs Tokely made in the second half were causing all sorts of problems."

Taken from the Scotsman