Michael Gardyne is sent off as Inverness Caledonian Thistle end Premier Sports Cup campaign with defeat at Hearts
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Premier Sports Cup
Heart of Midlothian 1
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0
Scorer: Walker (75)
Caley Thistle finished their participation in this season's Premier Sports Cup with a narrow defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle.
Jamie Walker scored the only goal of the game 15 minutes before the end as Hearts won the group with a 100 per cent record.
Michael Gardyne was sent off late in the game for a rash challenge on Walker which resulted in a straight red card.
Qualification was already beyond Inverness with Stirling Albion four points in front in second place going into the final game.
Hearts were calling for a penalty within the opening minutes when Josh Ginnelly claimed he was upended by Wallace Duffy in the box.
But he was ruled to have dived by the referee and received a yellow card as a result.
Both teams created chances in the first half with Inverness going close when Shane Sutherland's cross found Tom Walsh unchallenged eight yards from goal.
But he couldn't find the net as goalkeeper Craig Gordon pulled off an excellent save to parry the ball out for a corner.
Hearts should have taken the lead before half time when the Inverness defence failed to react to a Ginnelly cross from the right wing which found Finlay Pollock eight yards in front of goal.
But Mark Ridgers came to the rescue to stop his shot finding the net and keep the scoreline goalless at half time.
Ridgers came to the rescue again early in the second half when he parried a Gary Mackay Steven volley out for a corner.
But he had the left post to thank immediately afterwards as Armand Ganduillet and Pollock both hit the woodwork.
However Hearts broke the deadlock 15 minutes from time in a counter attack when Liam Boyce sent a pass through the heart of the Inverness defence to find Walker, who charged into the box and fired a low drive into the bottom left corner of the net.
Walker could have doubled Hearts advantage late on but was denied by a good Ridgers save from close range.
Caley Thistle were reduced to 10 men in the closing minutes when Gardyne received a straight red card for a late challenge on Walker.
