Inverness 0 Hearts 3

Calum Elliot picked the perfect time to score his first goals in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League this season as Hearts put their midweek mauling by Rangers firmly behind them.

Christos Karipidis headed the opener against Inverness Caledonian Thistle after connecting with Andrew Driver's corner.

Then a fantastic run from Christian Nade created Elliot's first goal of the afternoon in the 33rd minute.

Shortly after the interval Elliot profited from a slack pass by Ian Black to Inverness goalkeeper Michael Fraser to scoop a shot into the net for his second goal of the game.

The striker would have scored a hat-trick had he not headed wide with 12 minutes remaining.

Hearts were a world away from the side trounced 4-0 by Rangers and the two changes made by caretaker manager Stephen Frail from Wednesday were vindicated through a strong showing in the Highland capital.

With Jose Goncalves omitted, having reportedly been disciplined by the club for storming out of Tynecastle in the wake of the loss to Rangers, Frail brought in Driver, while Saulius Mikoliunas replaced Deividas Cesnauskis.

Despite the final scoreline it was Inverness who started in positive fashion, yet while they enjoyed some sustained spells of pressure, Russell Duncan's drive which carried well over was all they had to show for their early efforts.

Given Caley Thistle's early promise it was a touch surprising when Hearts broke the deadlock through Karipidis.

Fraser did well to dive low to his left and turn a drive from Nade wide of his far post, only to be caught out from the resultant corner.

The goalkeeper failed to make contact with Driver's delivery, allowing Karipidis to score with a close-range header.

Elliot showed signs of what was to come when he drove a searing shot over the bar from 25 yards.

And it did not take long for Hearts to double their advantage.

Nade was the architect, this time via a surge forward which commenced with an audacious nutmeg of Grant Munro.

The powerful striker then flicked the ball past Duncan's attempted sliding tackle and steered a cross to Elliot, who immediately fired a shot past the helpless Fraser.

Caley Thistle tried valiantly to pull a goal back before the interval, but Cowie saw his free-kick from the edge of the Hearts penalty area clip off the defensive wall and carry wide, then Niculae headed over when well placed.

The Romanian was to have the final opportunity of the opening period, missing again as he hooked a poor effort off target from Ross Tokely's cross.

Within two minutes of the restart the home side's aim of trying to take a point from the game was destroyed, as a blunder from Ian Black gifted Hearts their third goal.

The midfielder's terrible attempted pass back to Fraser lacked the required pace and the alert Elliot was on to the mistake in a flash.

Some desperate defending by Inverness stopped the initial danger, but when the ball broke to Elliot, he calmly clipped a neat effort over the stranded Fraser to score in style.

Elliot soon had the opportunity to bag a hat-trick, shooting well off target when some more composure would have at least allowed the lively forward to test Fraser.

The Inverness goalkeeper was called into action by another Hearts player though, diving high to his left-hand side to acrobatically parry a thumping shot from Ruben Palazuelos.

Elliot's confidence was now sky high and, despite that impressive effort from Palazuelos, when Hearts won a free-kick 30 yards from goal there was only going to be one taker.

This time Fraser was able to make a routine save from a weak effort, but Elliot was to have one more opportunity to grab the goal which would have allowed him to keep the match ball.

The 20-year-old's header from Robbie Neilson's cross flashed wide, although by that stage Elliot had already done enough to secure a much-needed victory for revitalised Hearts.

Taken from sportinglife.com