Kieron Bowie jokes Hibs wonderstrike almost came with concussion as he reveals half time premonition

Hibs hero set Easter Road alight with his outrageous strike against Partizan in front of the watching Steve Clarke.

He sparked a celebration so wild Kieron Bowie jokes he probably got concussion.

But the hitman’s haymaker that lifted Hibs off the canvas on their way to knocking out Partizan Belgrade is one the big striker will never forget.

With the clock about to strike the hour, David Gray’s side in danger of squandering a two goal lead and a sold out crowd growing increasingly frantic with fear Bowie decided - as he puts it - to swing a leg from 40 yards.

The rest will go down in Leith folklore. One of the best pings the ground has ever witnessed in a game of magnitude - and in front of the watching Scotland manager.

The hitman revealed goalkeeping coach Craig Samson had a half time premonition he’d strike it lucky in the second half of Thursday’s epic qualifier.

But nobody could have predicted the howitzer that flew off his left boot. Not even Bowie who admits he’ll probably never score a better goal.

He said: “At half-time, Sammy spoke to me, telling me that there's a goal in this for me. I didn't think it would be like that!

“I tried it against Killie on Saturday, although that one was on the floor, it was a bit different. But this just sat up nice on the volley and I thought I’d swing my leg.

“Thankfully it swung all the way into the top corner!

“It felt unbelievable. The whole crowd erupted, everyone was going mental on the bench, so I just ran over there, and got bombarded.

“I think Jack (Iredale) was hitting me in the back of the head the whole time, so I probably got concussion!

“I don’t think I’ve scored one better than that, and I might never score one as big again, especially given the atmosphere and the night. It’s an amazing experience.

“Their goalie was speaking to Martin Boyle after the game, asking why I shot. So that just sums it up really. I’ll probably never do that again.”

Clarke was in the posh seats to get the perfect view of Bowie’s strike.

And the Scotland boss is likely to have been just as impressed by the hitman’s workrate, tenacity and link-up in a man of the match performance.

The former Raith Rovers kid won his first top team cap in June’s friendly victory over Liechtenstein.

Now he’s determined to stay ins the national manager’s thoughts and more performances like Thursday won’t do any harm.

He said: “Definitely. I feel like I just need to try and put myself in that shop window, hopefully I can keep doing that.

“As the weeks go on, I'm playing more and more games, getting my sharpness, and yeah, I'm definitely bringing out the best in myself, and the lads are helping me do that as well.

“Not even just my goal, my all-around performance. I feel like I'm definitely improving as my games go on, I'm just constantly trying to play as many games as I can, and I've done that.

“So that's six starts in a row now, and hopefully it can continue.”

Bowie’s belter teed up by Chris Cadden to net an extra time clincher that fired Hibs through to a two-legged play-off with Legia Warsaw for a place in the money-spinning league phase of the Conference League.

And the £600,000 signing from Fulham, said: “Nights like that are half the reason I came to this club, to get in Europe.

“We set ourselves the target of getting European group stage football. No matter whether that was Europa League or Conference League. So hopefully we can continue to have more big nights.

“I think you know at Hibs we never do things the easy way.

“Obviously, they score like, what, five seconds before the end? And my head's gone. I'm just shouting into the sky.

“But the character that this squad has is unbelievable, it's relentless.

“And it was a big night for Chris Cadden, putting the winner away. All the lads were sort of at him because he hadn't scored in such a long time.

“What a time for him to score at the biggest moment that we needed him.”

Hibs face a quick turnaround before making the short trip to Livingston tomorrow in the last 16 of the Premier Sports Cup. Gray will ask his players to dig deep into their character again.

And Bowie reckons goalkeeper Jordan Smith - who recovered from two big errors in the first half against Partizan to make a series of huge saves - epitomises the spirit that is coursing through Gray’s side.

He said: “That's the type of player he is. He made a mistake. He was sort of calming himself. He could have just erupted after that and made multiple errors

“But after that, he was unbelievable. He needs players to pull him out the sh*t and thankfully we did that.

“No one said anything to him at half-time. He knew himself.

“He's a big lad, and he's an old lad. He knows himself that he's made an error, but, yeah, as I say, people need to help him out and pull him out the sh*t.”