Hearts 1-1 Inverness CT: Thrills and spills in the highlands

ASSISTANT managers Billy Brown and Maurice Malpas ended this match with a heated exchange in the mouth of the tunnel. The respective managers, Jim Jefferies and Terry Butcher, shared a glass of red wine and a laugh soon after the final whistle.

It was that kind of afternoon in the Highlands. Plenty aggression and niggle, but equally a sense of mutual respect following an enthralling game of football.

Another draw for Hearts still leaves a considerable amount of work to do to secure third place. Yet this was far from a negative scoreline, for the Edinburgh club grew stronger throughout the match and might have secured victory in a second half they dominated.

Inverness were similarly in control for much of the first 45 minutes and could conceivably have been 3-0 ahead by the interval. They were reduced to ten men 13 minutes from time when defender Ross Tokely was dismissed for a second bookable offence, yet the resolve which characterised Butcher's own playing career helped his team hang on for a point.

Watching the action, it was impossible to detect that this game had little meaning for the hosts, who battled and scratched where necessary whilst also employing attractive, attack-minded football.

Brown and Malpas mouthed at each other several times during the game over fouls and poor sportsmanship on the field. They then clashed at the final whistle, albeit after a handshake. There was also a running feud between Ismael Bouzid, the Hearts defender, and the Inverness forward Richie Foran throughout the 90 minutes. That began in the build up to the opening goal when Foran appeared to throw a fist in the direction of his opponent without catching the eye of the referee. However, two goals, three last-gasp clearances, a plethora of scoring chances and the sending off contributed to a fine afternoon's entertainment which all involved could be proud of.

"They started the game better than us. We were all over the place and second to every ball," said Jefferies, acknowledging his team's lacklustre opening in tandem with the adventure and appetite shown by Inverness.

"It took us about half an hour to waken up, although the final 15 minutes of the first half were better. We were good in the second half, but the game could have finished 3-3. They have had a claim for the ball crossing the line for a goal not being given, as had we, but we also had one or two other chances to win it.

"I don't think I've seen them play as bad for the first 20 minutes. We never looked like we had a will to compete, and you can imagine what we said at the break. It was better in the second half. If they'd played like that the whole game, we would have won."

Aaron Doran's early strike set the tone for the home team to overwhelm their hosts, but Stephen Elliott converted with notable expertise shortly after the interval. Tokely, having been cautioned for bodychecking Rudi Skacel in the first half, earned a second yellow for a reckless tackle on substitute David Templeton.

Yet in between there were three goal-line clearances, two by Inverness and one by Hearts, which saw players appealing that the ball had crossed the line.

In first-half stoppage time, Craig Thomson's impressive left-footed cross landed perfectly for Skacel at the back post. The Czech's first-time strike was netbound until Stuart Duff arrived to clear, apparently right on the line.

From Suso's corner early in the second half, Ryan Stevenson's header was struck goalwards on the turn by Elliott, however the ball struck an Inverness defender on the line and ricocheted off the crossbar before being cleared to safety.

Then Lee Cox's cross found Foran for a header across the face of goal which evaded MacDonald and would have been prodded home by Adam Rooney had Andy Webster not executed yet another clearance. All three incidents fell into the "need to see a replay" category.

All the enthusiasm and alluring football cannot detract from the fact Inverness will finish the season in the bottom half of the SPL. Butcher, though, is adamant that the remaining fixtures should be used to secure seventh place, the highest position available to his club. "We wanted to go out and win the game and showed a great desire to do that," he said. "We got ourselves into the lead and probably should have scored more goals as we carved them open a few times, particularly in the first half. I was disappointed to be only a goal up at the interval because I knew Jim would give his players a roasting at half-time, which he duly did.

"With the Hearts goal, I think there was a whistle blown just before a throw-in and we stopped a little bit. Because of that it allowed Hearts to get into a good position, from which they scored.

"At 1-1, their tails were up and we had to defend well, but we also had opportunities even when we went down to ten men. The players certainly couldn't have given me any more."

Nine points is now Hearts' advantage over Dundee United in pursuit of a coveted third place finish in the SPL. They would have preferred three points from Saturday's trip north. But, after such an impressive recovery in an engrossing game, there was no reason to be overly dissatisfied with a draw.