Caley Thistle 1 Hearts 1

But John McGlynn’s players showed that they will match the supporters’ stomach for a battle ON the pitch.

After a week which saw their club admit they could go to the wall if fans can’t find £450,000 to pay off debts to the taxman, the Hearts fans looked to be heading towards another kick in the teeth.

Their players had barely turned up for the first half and were trailing Inverness to a stunning goal from Owain Tudur-Jones.

But McGlynn fired them up at the break and they ground out a morale-boosting point.

With the seconds ticking away Callum Paterson won a penalty for his team and it was converted by skipper Marius Zaliukas, who turned 29 yesterday.

As captain, he overruled Ryan Stevenson to take the award, showing the kind of leadership which has been lacking in the boardroom in recent times.

The travelling support celebrated wildly when the ball hit the net, collectively putting their troubles aside.

But as soon as they got back to their buses and cars you can be assured thoughts quickly turned returned to what is set to be one of the most significant weeks in the club’s 138 year history.

Will they see 139?

For Inverness it was a day of frustration. They could — and probably should — have won on chances created in the first half.That was a source of frustration for boss Terry Butcher, but surely only until he reminded himself of how far his team, unbeaten in ten games, have come in the last two months.

The first half was all about Caley and they should have taken the lead after nine minutes through Andy Shinnie, who beat the offside trap to attack Aaron Doran’s cross from the right.

Shinnie had plenty of time to bring the ball down but went for the spectacular scissors-kick finish and instead stabbed his shot into the ground, and into keeper Jamie MacDonald’s hands.

Hearts were backed by around 600 fans and the players almost allowed them to forget what has been a horrific week for the club when Stevenson shot from the edge of the box.

The flight of the ball seemed to fool Antonio Reguero, with the Spaniard going to ground and needing two attempts to smother.

But after 19 minutes the misery was transmitted onto the park for the Jambos as Caley took the lead in stunning style.

The Hearts defence struggled to shackle Andy Shinnie as he darted along the 18-yard line and their efforts to get the ball from him left Tudur-Jones in acres of space 25 yards out.

Leaving the midfielder to his own devices proved to be a real error as he took a touch before thundering a powerful shot past MacDonald into the top corner.

After the events of the past few days you could see the life visibly sucked out of the Hearts players and it took them until the second half to recover.

The one thing they have to be grateful for is that the damage wasn’t worse than one goal — because it should have been.

Billy McKay scuffed a shot past from 20 yards when playing Shinnie in would’ve been easier.

The Northern Irishman was a constant danger to Hearts and nearly set up their second, laying the ball back for Richie Foran.

But this time MacDonald was able to get along his goal-line to push the shot away.

McGlynn was unhappy with his team’s woeful first-half showing so rung the changes at the break.

Off went Arvydas Novikovas and Mehdi Taouil with Andy Driver and Dylan McGowan both on in a bid to inject some spark.

But their team were nearly two down before the pair even had a chance to work their way into it.

Inverness, who have scored for fun this season, were again too wasteful in front of goal.

Andy Shinnie let himself go too wide when through on goal and saw MacDonald save his shot.

But the danger remained as the ball broke to Tudur-Jones, but his effort was blocked by Zaliukas. That was the afternoon's pivotal moment as Hearts then finally came to life.

Stevenson had two chances to score from the edge of the box but was blocked off both times.

But their persistence paid off in the dying minutes when Paterson went to attack a throw in and was bundled over by Tudur-Jones.

Ref Willie Collum immediately pointed to the spot and he was more sure of his decision-making than Hearts. Zaliukas demanded the ball from Stevo and led by example by slotting past Reguero.