Stephen Kingsley's finest Hearts moment sparks excitement for a 'special' future at Tynecastle

Perhaps even the man himself has hit 'rewind' a few times. It was just one of those moments: The feed into Liam Boyce and the bounce pass were neat and tidy. Kingsley's subsequent raking left-footed curler into the top corner of Hibs' net broke all boundaries of what is expected from a left-back. Although this is no ordinary left-back, to be fair.

Two Edinburgh derby goals in a week is a microcosm of a defender with a potent scoring threat. Set-pieces like the one at Hampden Park are Kingsley’s speciality but he also scores bullet headers. Occasionally, he settles for an average goal.

Seven times in total this season he has found the net, although there is no debating his finest strike. The swerving effort high beyond Matt Macey prompted some Hibs fans to head for the exits with only 21 minutes of the semi-final played. At the opposite end, Kingsley’s hero status was cemented.

His goal proved to be the winner as Hearts reached a third Scottish Cup final in four years and secured a historic European group place for next season. He hasn’t played since due to a hip injury.

After a full week’s training at Riccarton, he is eager to return to the starting line-up against Celtic tomorrow. The intervening period offered plenty time to review video of that goal.

“Because of the size of the moment, who it was against and what it meant for the club, it was a huge goal,” said the player in an exclusive Evening News interview. “It’s definitely my biggest moment in a Hearts shirt. The only thing that might rival it on a personal basis was when I scored two on my league debut for the club against Dundee.

“That had a massive effect on me because I was without a club for a few months and I’d worked my socks off to come in here and get