Hibs and Partizan Belgrade deliver an Edinburgh Festival thriller with extraordinary goal and plot twists

Or perhaps that should be take a Bowie. Hibs move on to the play-off round of the Conference League largely down to a moment of individual brilliance from the Scotland striker.

Defending a 2-0 advantage from last week's first leg in Serbia, many expected Hibs to progress in straightforward fashion. It was not to be. A young but extremely plucky Partizan side were 2-0 up by the interval and looked the most likely to prevail before Bowie scored a 35-yard rocket on the hour mark.

Hibs were back in front and while the Serbians had defender Nikola Simic sent off not long after that goal, the ten men never gave up and in the last kick of second-half stoppage time, made it 3-1 to force extra time.

Chris Cadden scored from close range on 100 minutes to put Hibs ahead 4-3 on aggregate and this time it was enough. The show goes on. Legia Warsaw from Poland are up next, the final obstacle between them and main-phase European football.

That tie will do well to match this for sheer entertainment. Easter Road shimmered under the lights in a classic game, one that will live long in the memory - not least for Bowie's strike. Hibs keeper Jordan Smith went from villain to hero, at fault for the first two Partizan goals before making a series of excellent saves. The hosts were nervous for much of the match but did just enough.

How it all unfolded

The craziness began on 17 minutes. Partizan's Milan Vukotic deserves credit for having the audacity to take aim from nearly 30 yards, but Smith will lament a weak-wristed attempt at saving the effort, instead sending it into his own top corner. The comeback was on.

Hibs defender Rocky Bushiri could have quashed it when he sent a header the wrong side of the post from an excellent Dylan Levitt cross just after the half-hour mark, but the miss heightened the sense of jitteriness that had now engulfed this stadium.

Getting into the sheds just a goal down would have been deemed a mini-victory, but Partizan levelled the tie on 44 minutes. Mario Jurcevic's cutback wasn't struck with particular venom by Jovan Milosevic, but Smith allowed the ball to squirm underneath his body and over his goalline.

Hibs were greeted with loud boos by their fans at the break as around 100 topless Partizan fans partied in the top corner of the South Stand. They believed ...

Hibs continued to look paralysed by the situation they now found themselves in. Smith, in particular, lacked composure with the ball at his feet. Bushiri calmed him down with a gentle hug.

But if Smith was sclaffing everything, there was one man with thunder in his boots. Step forward young Mr Bowie.

One of the best goals

The Kirkcaldy native scored a goal he can play on repeat for the rest of his days. The Scotland striker, in front of the watching national team head coach Steve Clarke, must have been 35 yards out when the ball sat up in front of his gangly left foot. He took an enormous swing at it and immediately you could tell it was going to be close.

Goalkeeper Marko Milosevic back-pedalled frantically. He knew he was in real bother here. The 34-year-old doesn't normally have to deal with such strikes. His flailing dive couldn't stop this dipping exocet. Not many missile defences could, right enough. The ball slapped off the post and into the net. Easter Road exploded.

Partizan, rightly, looked shell-shocked. They are a young side. Their heads started to go. Three minutes later, 18-year-old defender Simic was sent off for a second bookable offence.

That really should have been it but Partizan kept going. Smith had been the fall guy earlier but he made three fine saves as the clock ticked down. But he could do nothing about Jovan Milosevic's effort in the last minute of stoppage time after another wave of pressure. The Hibs players sank to their knees. Another 30 minutes at least.

Back on their feet, back for more. One hundred minutes and Hibs poked their noses in front again. Josh Mulligan created it, driving through tired tackles and while his deflected shot was saved by Marko Milosevic, Chris Cadden was on hand to fire in the rebound.

Partizan launched one last attack. Smith turned an Andrej Kostic shot on to the post on 117 minutes. The Serbs deserve enormous credit for fighting until the end, but this was Hibs' night.