Hearts destroy Inverness jinx

By: Graham | March 4th, 2008

On the back of the drubbing by Rangers at Tynecastle, a trip to Inverness would not have been the choice of many at Hearts for the game in which the team had to make some sort of redeeming statement. CT have already beaten us twice this season and under Craig Brewster have recaptured much of their resilience and ability to frustrate the opposition. Then again, with Hearts in yo-yo form, there were no SPL fixtures – including a match against Gretna – that Hearts could have chosen with anything approaching confidence.

So, northwards it was. Although the wind that had made much of the Motherwell game so dreadful was of less intensity this week, Hearts and Inverness contrived to play for the first 20 minutes as though gales were sweeping across the pitch. Fraser and Banks could both have returfed their penalty areas with little distraction. Then a neat Nade turn in the box forced a good save from Fraser and from the corner Karipidis scored with a free header. Poor defending but Hearts did well to take advantage.

This spurred Inverness into increased indifference and, ten minutes later, Nade again showed glimpses of the strker we hope he is and need him to be now that Velicka has gone to great fjords. A strong run down the right, including a nutmeg and a hint of a step-over, was followed by a surge into the box and a neat cut back to Elliot, who took the majority of travelling fans by surprise and scored.

There was more to come from Elliot when, shortly after half time, a dodgy back pass led to a bit of pinball on the edge of the box and Elliot scooped the ball high and over the head of the desperately retreating Fraser. Caley had made a couple of chances by then and missed them in ways that summed up their afternoon. Hearts rested on their laurels for much of the rest of the game and it gradually eased into a torpor reminiscent of the first 20 minutes.

Hearts won. Inverness posed little threat up front and even less of a threat in defence. To have lost would have been disastrous for us but Elliot’s confidence will have been given a welcome boost and Nade showed some promising touches. St. Mirren next and a real chance of getting that 6th place spot next week, if other results go our way.