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Hearts' Jamie Walker missed a second-half penalty as bottom side Inverness CT earned a point at Tynecastle.

The visitors took the lead through Carl Tremarco, the defender rising to nod home his seventh of the season from Greg Tansey's curling free-kick.

Arnaud Djoum was in the right place to knock the ball home for the equaliser before he was brought down for a penalty.

Sub Walker's tame effort was, however, well saved by Owain Fon Williams.

Hearts had the bulk of possession and hit the post through Esmael Goncalves, with Djoum and Andraz Struna also going close.

Carl Tremarco heads Inverness CT into the lead at Tynecastle

Caley Thistle also hit the woodwork from Ross Draper's header, with the scores at 1-1.

Inverness remain bottom of the Premiership table but have closed the gap on Hamilton to two points.

Dogged Inverness

Inverness arrived at Tynecastle without a win in 13 Premiership matches, and the last time they were in Gorgie they were thumped 5-1.

Richie Foran set up his side to be tough to beat by flooding the midfield and it was a wise move as Hearts struggled to create as many clear-cut chances as might have been expected.

And it was the home defence that was breached first. From Tansey's free-kick, Unmarked Inverness left-back Tremarco rose to head into the net to make it 1-0.

Overall Caley Thistle did well to keep Hearts at bay, although Bjorn Johnsen almost equalised with a deflected shot off the crossbar.

Struna then came close for Hearts with a fierce drive that looked like it was heading for the top corner, but Fon Williams tipped the ball over.

Arnaud Djoum bundles the ball beyond Owain Fon Williams to haul Hearts level against Inverness

From the resulting corner Goncalves looked like he would equalise from close range but his header flew narrowly wide.

Change of Hearts

In the second half it looked like Hearts were in search of more width as Johnsen was taken off and in his place came Walker.

And the change appeared to have the desired effect as the home side looked lively, Goncalves rifling an angled shot off the post.

But the full house at Tynecastle would eventually get a goal to cheer. A cross from Perry Kitchen on the left wing found African Cup of Nations winner Djoum at the back post and the Cameroon international fired a shot into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.

The match was starting to hot up now and Draper hit the post with a well-directed header from the edge of the area.

But down at the other end Hearts suddenly had a penalty as Djoum was bundled over in the box by Draper. Up stepped Walker but his spot-kick was comfortably saved by Fon Williams.

Neither side could find a winner and both will no doubt be glad to see the back of the Tynecastle pitch for the day. The surface is badly rutted and ensured good passing play was at a premium, despite a number of excellent technical players on show.

Jamie Walker ponders his penalty miss as Hearts are forced to settle for a point against bottom side Inverness CT

There is plenty of talk of sorting the surface and the case is building for it to be done sooner rather than later.

Hearts head coach Ian Cathro: "[Inverness] worked very, very hard. They stayed strong, they stayed compact and they gave us some difficulties in breaking them down.

"However, I think we have dominated the game and we have created enough chances to win one-and-a-half games. Ultimately we suffered the frustrations of having perhaps not been clinical enough when those opportunities arise and defending the set play properly in the first-half.

Hearts boss Cathro rues missed chances

"It's not great (the pitch). Of course it adds another level of difficulty but it is a situation we need to manage with and deal with collectively."

Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Richie Foran: "That was the old Inverness today I thought. Going forward we have been fine this season, going back we have been lazy. We haven't had enough fight - the fight was there today, that's for sure.

"The boys are flat out on their feet and I think it's a deserved point. They've hit the post, we've hit the post. We looked dangerous on the counter-attack, they looked dangerous on the counter.

"It wasn't a pitch to play football on. There were a lot of long balls. The most pleasing part was our going back up the park, our spirit, our work-rate. That was the old Inverness."