Inverness CT 1 - 1 Hearts

By David McDaid

Inverness held on for a share of the points against Hearts in a match they ended with just 10 men.

The hosts took a deserved lead on six minutes when Aaron Doran volleyed home after a smart pass by Adam Rooney.

Stuart Duff and Rooney both cleared off the line, before Hearts' Stephen Elliot drew them level on 53 minutes, sweeping the ball low past Ryan Esson.

Hearts' Andy Webster also hacked off the line, and Ross Tokely did the same before he was shown a second yellow.

The early stages of the match was virtually one-way traffic towards the Hearts goal.

Foran brought Jamie MacDonald into action with a header, then the Irishman dispossessed Webster before putting a teasing ball in to the box for Rooney, who just failed to connect from close range.

Caley Thistle reaped rewards for their early pressure in the sixth minute when Rooney picked out Doran in the box with a lovely chipped pass, and the on-loan Blackburn player volleyed expertly past MacDonald from 12 yards.

Hearts' Suso Santana managed to get a shot in at Esson, although it lacked power and the Inverness goalkeeper collected it comfortably, before Inverness went up the field and nearly got number two.

Goalscorer Doran turned provider for Rooney, and the striker forced a good save from MacDonald with a diving header.

Hearts somehow survived conceding a second, as Rooney looked lackadaisical one-on-one with MacDonald.

The Hearts goalkeeper saved with his chest, and then Nick Ross pounced on the rebound, which was blocked by a Hearts defender.

Inverness then had a decent claim for a penalty when Foran was taken out by the elbow of Ian Black in the box, but referee Crawford Allan waved away the appeals.

However, for all their dominance in attack, Inverness had Duff to thank for taking a 1-0 lead in at half-time.

Moments before the break the defender hacked a goal-bound Rudi Skacel volley off the line, with Esson beaten from close range.

With the second period only minutes old Inverness again survived a scare, when Elliot helped Ryan Stevenson's header towards goal, only for Rooney to knee the ball off the line and onto his own bar.

But Hearts' persistence paid off when Elliot got them back on level terms, stroking the ball low into the far corner from 10 yards after Suso had cut the ball back to him.

Inverness worked themselves back into the game and Ismael Bouzid made a fantastic sliding challenge inside his own box to deny Rooney, who was just about to pull the trigger in front of MacDonald.

At the other end Suso beat Kenny Gillet to the ball on the right, cut it across the box for Stevenson who swept in a shot, but Esson dived low to his right to palm it away.

Inverness went straight up the pitch, and Webster hooked the ball off the line after Foran at the back post had nodded it beyond MacDonald from a very tight angle.

The Irishman cut an irate figure as he thought the ball was over the line before the Hearts defender cleared.

With 12 minutes to play Inverness's Tokely was sent off just moments afer making a timely intervention.

First the defender thumped clear Stevenson's shot after it had beaten Esson, then he earned a second yellow card for clipping David Templeton's heels, and the home side managed to see out the match to earn a point.

Taken from the BBC