Neither team looked like scoring in what was a dire encounter at Caledonian Stadium this evening.
It was a dull night from start to finish for the 3,202 supporters, with clear-cut chances few and far between.
Seventh-place is the best Inverness can hope for this season, and although they remain ninth in the table, the result moves them to within a point of Dundee who are currently on course to finish best of the rest.
There is little more than pride left at stake for Caley Thistle this season, with their top-six hopes dashed at the weekend despite still having last night’s game to play. Although the result carried no meaning, Saturday’s 2-0 victory against Dundee United was among their most dominant displays of the season, with John Hughes unsurprisingly naming an unchanged side.
It looked to be an indication of the scrappy encounter it was to become, with Hearts Jamie Walker booked for trying to fool referee Don Robertson he had gone down under contact by Carl Tremarco, and was shortly followed by Iain Vigurs and Hearts midfielder Arnaud Djoum, who clashed in an off-the-ball tussle.
It wasn’t until the 22nd minute that either side registered an attempt on goal, with Hearts skipper Alim Ozturk blazing a free-kick harmlessly over, before Walker bent a strike well wide of target minutes later.
It was far from inspiring, with Inverness also struggling to register attacking threat. Their first attempt came from long-range courtesy of Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo, who is beginning to enjoy a sustained run in the side, but his effort flew well off target. Defender Josh Meekings also fancied his chances from distance, with his 30-yard attempt coming far closer as it forced Jambos goalkeeper Neil Alexander to tip the ball over the bar.
Hearts had the best opportunity of the first-half though, with substitute Callum Paterson, on in place of Pallardo who had failed to shake off the effects of Draper’s challenge, forcing Fon Williams to smother at the second attempt with a powerful drive.
Although the opening period ended promisingly for both sides, both approached the second-half expecting much better. It was the visitors who were quicker off the mark, with Dario Zanatta attempting to squeeze home Juanma’s low cross home at the near post, but unable to get a firm connection on it.
Inverness gradually imposed themselves on the game though, and spurned a decent chance to break the deadlock just after the hour mark. Meekings’ delivery from the right-flank was not cut out by the Jambos’ defence, allowing it to fall to James Vincent, who had replaced Mbuyi-Mutombo at half-time, but he failed to make an early impact as he slashed his half-volley well wide of target.
The quality of the final ball continued to let both sides down though, to the great frustration of both sets of supporters. With an attempt that epitomised the standard of end product throughout the match, Hearts substitute Abiola Dauda worked his way into a decent shooting position on the edge of the box, before blazing it harmlessly over.
With a rare moment of class, Djoum jinked past Greg Tansey before releasing Dauda with an excellent through ball, but goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams was out sharp to block his attempt and keep the scoreline blank.
In the closing stages, Tremarco sidefooted wide, while Vigurs’ low cross was well held at the near post by Alexander, with Vincent waiting to pounce on any rebound.
Substitute Danny Williams came closest to opening the scoring late on, but found Alexander equal to his low shot as the game fizzled out into a bore draw.
