Derby delight is best Hibs memory for Bowie

Kieron Bowie scored 15 goals in an injury-interrupted 18 months with Hibernian and there is no question his best was the stunning, long-range lob against Partizan Belgrade in August.

But the 23-year-old striker, sold to Hellas Verona in January, reckons his derby goal in December is the fondest memory from his time at Easter Road.

With Hibs already 2-0 up on league leaders Hearts, Bowie rifled a shot into the corner of the net from 16 yards early in the second half to send the home fans wild.

It came moments after he had failed to make the most of a good chance and was almost immediately followed by Josh Mulligan firing wide when a pass to either Bowie or Martin Boyle would almost certainly have made it 4-0.

Hearts hit back with two goals in the last 15 minutes and it needed a good save from Raphael Sallinger in stoppage time to prevent a draw.

Of his special strike against Partizan in Conference League qualifying, Bowie told BBC Alba: "I'm not sure I'll ever score a goal like that again. I still speak to people who say 'I've never seen a goal like that in my life'.

"But the Hearts one is probably the one that meant the most.

"It was 3-2 in the end but really, we should have won the game 5-0. When I arrived those were the games everyone spoke about and how important it was to win them."

That derby victory was celebrated with a rousing rendition of Sunshine on Leith, the Proclaimers classic adopted by Hibs fans.

"I got to hear it three of four times," Bowie said of the song. "It's a special anthem, probably one of the most iconic in football."

Since moving to Italy for a reported £6m fee, he has scored twice in nine outings for Verona, with the club running out of games to preserve their Serie A status.