Hibs can reap benefits of striker's Scotland debut if Bowie harnesses desire to battle past World Cup rivals

A dozen minutes. Call it near enough a quarter hour, once you include time added on for fripperies at the end of a friendly of little note and limited import.

Doesn’t sound like much, does it? And you can certainly argue that Steve Clarke should have entrusted Kieron Bowie with a more central role, figuratively and positionally, over the course of two full fixtures made for handing out opportunities.

Still, there’s always something special about a full international debut. Bowie, a player with serious ambitions to become Scotland’s first-choice No. 9 in due course, will have enjoyed his late cameo in this afternoon’s 4-0 scudding of lowly Liechtenstein. And he’ll obviously be hoping that this is the start of a more lasting and rewarding relationship.

The problem he faces, of course, is that Che Adams has just bagged a hat-trick. George Hirst also scored. Tommy Conway got on ahead of him. Leaving Bowie and young Hearts forward James Wilson to nervously eyeball each other as they wondered which bold stroke Clarke would play next …

Given everything we know about the Scotland boss, a man who usually leaves room for just a single forward in his starting XI, you would have to assume that there are a lot of bodies standing between the Hibs striker and his ultimate goal. Being flung in for the final 12 minutes on the left of an improvised front three, something we’ll probably NEVER see in a competitive international, suggests there’s more chance of Lyndon Dykes – hamming it up for all his worth on TV coverage – reclaiming that lone attacker role when the World Cup campaign begins in earnest.

This game has to be taken in isolation. A training exercise against a team who posed zero threat to Scotland.

A palate cleanser after the grim fare of Friday night at Hampden, entirely unrelated to the serious business of a short, sharp and intense qualifying campaign just around the corner. An opportunity to go just a little bit wild before the serious business begins, right?

Conservative Scotland boss Steve Clarke not prone to wild gambles

The starting XI was probably as close as Clarke will ever get to taking a mad gamble with a selection. Given everything we’ve learned about his approach and philosophy in 67 games at the helm, did anyone really expect him to go with some all-or-nothing experiment built around youthful inexperience in fixture number 68?

Forced into blooding a brand-new goalkeeper and boldly deciding that Lennon Miller deserved a first start in a midfield not exactly short on experience, the veteran gaffer did show a bit of gumption in deciding to pick not one but two strikers. Against a team ranked five places above dead last in the FIFA rankings, that hardly qualifies as a risk.

And the identity of those two starting strikers, Adams and Hirst, merely underlined Clarke’s aversion to pulling hare-like creatures out of dress bunnets. Again, did you expect anything else?

In handing Adams cap no. 39, the Scotland coaching staff were never going to learn anything new about a player who has been in this squad for over five years. Hirst may be at the other end of the scale when it comes to international experience but, having started against Iceland in Friday night’s debacle of a defeat at Hampden, the only reason to stick with him was to boost his morale; that shouldn’t be underestimated as a factor.

Bowie, having proven himself at under-21 level AND put together some blistering form towards the end of the season, took his place on the bench. And waited. And waited.

Would he get on at half-time? That wouldn’t have been the worst shout, with Adams bagging two goals in the opening 26 minutes to give Clarke a perfect opportunity to make a change at the interval - without offending the senior man. But no, that was too early for a change.

Hearts kid James Wilson left on bench

What about when Hirst got his first international goal in the opening minutes of the second half, then? That could have been the trigger for a double change up front, giving Clarke the opportunity to give valuable international experience to a Hibs-Hearts strike duo who might – just might – be future regulars in years to come.

But former Hibs left back Josh Doig, ex-Hearts midfielder Andy Irving, right back Nathan Patterson and then Middlesbrough forward Conway all got the nod before, eventually, the coaching staff signalled for Bowie and Rangers midfielder Connor Barron to ready themselves for action. At least, and at last, the former Raith and Fulham forward got on the park.

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His touches were limited, his involvement restricted to the periphery. After such a promising under-21 career, however, he’s now a full international.

He’ll be back on club duty soon enough, either with the bulk of the squad at the end of next week or a little later as a reward for doing national service during what we’re still laughably calling the close season. If the 22-year-old returns to East Mains with his confidence boosted, but also nursing a renewed determination to fight his way past the rivals competing for Scotland minutes on the road to the USA, Mexico and Canada next summer, Hibs can only reap the benefits.

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