Entertaining spectacle served against the odds in Inverness

Published Date: 17 April 2011
By Paul Forsyth
at Caledonian Stadium
IF this is a season gradually petering out, with little or nothing at stake save for a two-horse title race, somebody forgot to tell these two, who contrived to produce an open, entertaining and at times controversial spectacle in the Highlands yesterday.
Stephen Elliott's second-half equaliser earned Hearts a point, but it could have been three had they taken advantage of Ross Tokely's late sending-off. A rash challenge by the Inverness defender earned him a second yellow card with 12 minutes left.

That, though, would have been hard on Inverness who deserved to see this one out on the strength of a first half in which they could have been two or three ahead. They had only a goal by Aaron Doran to show for their efforts, but Adam Rooney passed up several scoring opportunities, and Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager, later admitted that his team had been "all over the place" in the early stages.

The Edinburgh side are stumbling along these days, with just one win from their last seven, but even a point here and there should be enough to secure the third place that they have occupied for so long. "Given how badly we performed in the opening half hour, it might turn out to be a very valuable point," said Jefferies. "There are very few games left. If Dundee United get beat on Tuesday, we have gained a point."

The energy of Inverness seemed to take their opponents by surprise. Quite apart from the direct running of their wide men, Doran and Jonny Hayes, who combined with Nick Ross in midfield to provide a steady supply of intelligent through-balls, the home side adopted a whole-hearted approach that was epitomised by Richie Foran.

He put himself about from the off, so much so that it led to the opening goal, although there were some questioning the legality of his part in it. Whether it was a punch or a trailing arm, Foran certainly seemed to make contact with Ismael Bouzid in an untidy midfield exchange. As the Hearts defender lay writhing about on the turf, Lee Cox was spraying the ball wide to Rooney whose cross to the back post was volleyed in by Doran.

Whether or not the goal was legitimate, Inverness went on to prove they deserved it, repeatedly running at a Hearts back four that looked unusually square and vulnerable to the angled ball. First, Rooney got in behind them to connect with a Cox cross, forcing Jamie MacDonald to parry round the post. Then, the same striker had a shot blocked by the goalkeeper. When Rooney was later fed by Doran, he must have thought his time had come, but again his shot was saved.

With Marius Zaliukas on the bench, Hearts looked distinctly ill at ease.
Only Craig Thomson, surging forward from right-back, seemed capable of the telling cross, but it wasn't until the stroke of half-time that it threatened to do any damage. Rudi Skacel slid in at the back post, but his shot was cleared from the line by Stuart Duff.

Jefferies doubtless gave his players quite a talking-to during the interval, for they emerged in far better shape. Within seconds, a Suso corner was prompting all manner of confusion in the box, where Ryan Stevenson's header, helped on by Elliott, ricocheted off the crossbar.

The near miss lifted Hearts and their supporters, who didn't have much longer to wait for an equaliser. Thomson fed Suso down the right, whose cutback from the byline was weighted perfectly. Elliott hardly had to break his stride as he stroked it under Ryan Esson from 12 yards.

Hearts were soon breathing a sigh of relief at the other end. When Foran rose at the back post to meet a Cox cross, it looked as if his header had crossed the line, but Andy Webster hooked the ball away.

With Tokely's dismissal still to come, Inverness had to be satisfied with a draw, the compelling nature of which had come as a pleasant surprise. "For an end-of-season game that didn't mean anything, it was brilliant," said Terry Butcher, the Inverness manager. "How it only finished 1-1 I'll never know."

Taken from the Scotsman