Fulham forward Kieron Bowie’s third goal in four days sealed a crucial win for Scotland’s under 21s against Malta at Motherwell last night.
Bowie, currently spending a successive season on loan at Northampton Town, drove home from an acute angle with eight minutes remaining to give Scott Gemmill’s side a vital victory that lifted them up to second in Group B. The Scots had seen Alex Lowry’s first-half penalty cancelled out by a spot kick from Andrea Zammit and rode their luck shortly afterwards when Nikolai Micallef hit the crossbar.
The hosts pressed for a winner with Liam Morrison seeing a shot cleared off the line before Dundee’s Josh Mulligan, who had missed two good chances in the first half, drove into the penalty area and flashed a low cross through the six-yard box that Bowie brilliantly guided into the far right corner from well beyond the far post before spinning away in celebration.
#SCO21s | Kieron Bowie's third goal in two games gives us a late lead at Fir Park ?#YoungTeam pic.twitter.com/2HMbB4A02S
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) October 17, 2023
Gemmill heaped praise on the matchwinner during his post-match reflections.
“I’m delighted for him. He’s become a father in the last few months and you can see him maturing. I speak to Colin Calderwood a lot at Northampton – he’s part of the staff there – and Kieron has responded. He’s moved up a league after promotion last year and it’s fantastic he’s playing and pushing again and he’s not settling for where he was.”
