CENTRAL FIFE duo Katey Turner and Lucy Graham will miss out on the UEFA Women’s under-19 Championships after Scotland were knocked out in the elite round earlier this month.

The 18-year-olds, who are team-mates at club level with Hibernian, had high hopes of emulating their achievements 12 months ago when the Scots reached the finals in Norway but their hopes of repeating the feat this year were dashed at the final hurdle.

Gareth Evans’ side were pitched in a tough final qualifying section with Germany, Belgium and Ukraine with only the winners from each of the six groups guaranteed to join hosts Israel at the finals, with the best placed group runners-up also joining them.

Lucy Graham, of Ballingry, captained the side in each of their three games which began with a crushing 6-0 defeat to Germany, a game in which Turner started.

The young Scots rallied in their final two games - which Katey Turner making one further appearance as a substitute in a 2-2 draw with Belgium - but despite a 3-0 win over Ukraine in their final match, they finished third in the group and were knocked out of the competition.

The qualifying campaign for the 2016 tournament, which will be held in Slovakia, kicks off in September where Scotland will meet Ukraine once more along with Austria and Albania in the first qualifying round.