Midweek goal hero Paul Hartley had his shooting boots on again to fire Hearts to three points in a dismal match against Inverness.
In windy conditions chances were few and far between and it was always going to take a mistake to separate the sides.
Unfortunately for Richard Hastings it was his blunder that allowed Hartley to nip in and send a cute lob over the stranded Mark Brown for the 15th minute winner.
It never looked like there would be more goals and Hearts appeared to be saving themselves for their midweek European trip to Portugal. And they will certainly have to find another couple of gears to preserve there first-leg lead against Braga if they are to progress to the group stages of the UEFA Cup.
The home side were sloppy in defence with Andy Webster the main culprit. The Scotland defender was caught in possession by Juanjo and only a fine save from Craig Gordon denied Inverness.
Hearts took the lead through Hartley seconds later but another wild pass from Joe Hamill forced a desperate clearance from Robbie Neilson.
As Hearts did there best to gift Inverness an equaliser Gordon again had to make a brave safe at the feet of Graham Bayne after another Webster mistake.
The Jambos almost went further in front when Steven Pressley met Hartley's corner with a glancing header that Liam Keogh did brilliantly to head off the line.
This gave Inverness hope and they should have equalised when Barry Wilson's free-kick found Ross Tokely unmarked six yards out. The big defender scored the last time the sides met in 2000 but he couldn't repeat the feat and headed tamely over the bar.
The visitor's last chance came five minutes from time when skipper Stuart Golabak fired a 20-yard drive inches wide with Gordon stranded.