Butcher's men base appearance on how the other half live

17 Apr 2011

A DRAW with Kilmarnock last week consigned Inverness to finishing in the bottom six of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, meaning their remaining ambitions for this season can extend no further than seventh place.

Yet the Highland club appeared somewhat unaware of this during the visit of Hearts. Given that the Highland club only returned to the Premier League last summer, this could be put down to inexperience.

They will presumably know better next season. Against Jim Jefferies' side, they played in a manner which belied their position in the league and suggested they were still in pursuit of some sort of tangible success. At times they were relentless, as if by their insatiable endeavour alone they could somehow force their way into the top six before the split.

It took Inverness only two minutes to show their intentions. Richie Foran skipped clear of a Hearts defence that was still getting organised but his low cross proved to be just out of reach for Adam Rooney. Four minutes later, they were at it again, this time with more success. Lee Cox released Rooney in behind and Aaron Doran adroitly dispatched the striker's cross past Jamie MacDonald in the Hearts goal.

This early exuberance imbued a seemingly meaningless fixture with an unexpected competitive edge, and Hearts looked just as surprised as everybody else.

At times they were relentless, as if they could somehow still force their way into the top six before the split

"We were all over the place in the opening half hour," said Jefferies. "We looked as if we hadn't woken up and were second to every ball."

Hearts did eventually rouse themselves but still looked a little groggy. Suso Santana floated a cross into the penalty area, but Andy Driver was unable to manufacture any real power and Ryan Esson was able to allow the ball to bounce before gathering.

The Inverness goalkeeper looked a lot less composed minutes later when Rudi Skacel sent a shot beyond his reach only for Stuart Duff to hack it off the line. It was a timely intervention and it would not be the last.

Hearts, aided somewhat by a few choice words from Jefferies, began the second half with renewed vigour. Suso's corner caused a degree of panic in the Inverness penalty area and it took the combined efforts of Esson and Duff to redirect Stephen Elliott's flick on to the underside of the crossbar, and a rather more emphatic reaction of Ross Tokely to eventually clear the danger. The home side were unable to obstruct a rare moment of composure from Hearts, however, when Suso scampered into the penalty area and Elliott clipped his pass into the far corner for the equaliser.

The strike was greeted with a sense of relief among the visiting fans, but Jefferies acknowledged it also had positive effect on Hearts' ambitions of clinching third place. "There are very few games left now and if Dundee United get beaten on Tuesday [by Rangers] we have gained a point on them," he said.

Inverness did not give up and Foran had a header cleared off the line by Andy Webster before Tokely took his exuberance too far, receiving a second booking for a lunge on Ryan Stevenson. "I thought we showed great desire," said home manager Terry Butcher. "Even when we were down to 10 men we kept going forward."

Doran 6

Elliott 53

Inverness CT: Esson; Duff, Hogg, Tokely, Gillet; Doran (Munro 79), Ross, Cox, Hayes (Sutherland 75); Rooney (MacDonald 73), Foran

Subs not used: Tuffey, Duncan, Innes, Morrison Booked: Hogg (26), Tokely (44), Foran (80), Gillet (86) Sent off: Tokely (78)

Hearts: MacDonald; Thomson, Bouzid, Webster, Palazuelos; Suso, Skacel (McGowan 63), Black, Driver (Templeton 70); Stevenson, Elliott

Subs not used: Balogh, Glen, Zaliukas, Robinson, Mrowiec Booked: Black (90)

Referee: C. Allan. Att: 4336

Taken from the Herald