Elliot the hero as Hearts thump Caley Thistle

Calum Elliot's performance typified the change in the Hearts side as the youngster scored two of his side's three goals after Christos Karipidis had given them the lead. Elliot worked hard from start until finish and was a constant thorn in the Inverness' side.

Stephen Frail made two changes from the team that lost in midweek. Jose Goncalves dropped out of the squad for discipline issues while Deividas Cesnauskis was also omitted for his poor midweek performance. In came Saulius Mikoliunas and a surprise return from injury for Andrew Driver as Lee Wallace dropped back into the back four.

Christos Karipidis scores

The match started very poorly with both sides failing to turn out a decent chance in the first 20 minutes. Hearts started the brighter but poor play from both teams in the final third kept the score level.

Then all of a sudden Hearts had the lead. Eggert Jonsson's determination paid off when he managed to dispossession Phil McGuire by the Inverness corner flag. Jonsson's cut back found Christian Nade who turned quickly before firing a low shot that was well saved by Michael Fraser. From the resulting corner Andrew Driver's cross-found the head of Christos Karipidis who rose higher than any defender to power the ball past the helpless Fraser.

Ten minutes later Hearts doubled their lead. A fantastic through ball from Saulius Mikoliunas found Christian Nade, who controlled the ball before turning his marker, beating another Caley player and advancing into the penalty area. He then looked up and picked out Calum Elliot who then drove the ball into the corner of the net with a powerful right foot shot.

Christian Nade causes all sorts of problems

For the second week running Hearts out-performed the home team in the middle of the park despite their opponents having a man advantage as Inverness lined up in a 4-5-1 formation. Hearts knocked the ball about with ease as their opponents struggled to deal with the maroon onslaught.

Though Caley Thistle almost found a route back into the game on 39 minutes. A soft free kick was awarded right on the edge of the Hearts penalty area. The set piece was taken by Don Cowie whose effort deflected off the top of the wall but dropped just wide of the right hand post.

Eggert Jonsson slides in on Don Cowie

The home side really should have pulled a goal back just before half time. Andrew Driver was guilty of ball watching as he let Don Cowie in behind him, Cowie's low cross picked out Marius Niculae who someone lifted his shot over the bar.

Inverness Caley changed their formation at the interval in a hope of getting back into the game. Then 60 seconds later they were 3-0 down. Elliot intercepted Ian Black's back pass before the ball spilled to Mikoliunas. The Lithuanian was tackled before he could shoot but it rolled to Elliot who lifted the ball perfectly over the goalkeeper. For a footballer that should be playing on so little confidence it really was a cool and brilliant finish.

Goal number three - from Calum Elliot

Elliot had a great chance to secure his hat trick on 54 minutes. Another stunning Hearts move lead to Nade playing in Elliot who fired his shot from 10 yards over the ball. The youngster was unlucky as the ball bounced just as he was about to strike.

The striker's performance and work rate was tremendous from start to finish and he nearly had his much-deserved hat trick on 79 minutes. Ivaskevicius received the ball from Jonsson on the right wing, before cutting back inside onto his left foot and flighting a great cross into the box. The ball found the head of Elliot but he couldn't find the net as his header crept just wide.

The game petered out as a contest in the second half but you could forgive Hearts for resting on their 3-0 lead thanks to a stunning display.

Hearts: Banks; Neilson, Karipidis, Berra, Wallace; Mikoliunas (Screpis 75), Jonsson, Palazeulos, Driver (Ivaskevicius 66); Nade (Beniusis 86), Elliot. Booked: Mikoliunas, Beniusis. Subs Not Used: Ridgers, Zaliukas, Tall, Glen

Inverness: Fraser; Tokely, McGuire, Munro, Hastings; Imrie (Proctor 77), Black, Duncan, Cowie (McAllister 85), Paatelainen (Wyness 46); Niculae. Subs Not Used: Malkowski, McBain, Kerr, Vigurs

Referee: Alan Freeland

Top man: Calum Elliot

Hearts World