KELTY HEARTS striker Alfie Bavidge collected a match ball by netting a treble in the second of two matches for his country last week.

The on-loan Aberdeen star was part of the Scotland under-19 squad that played friendly matches with Türkiye and Latvia, and claimed a memorable hat-trick in the latter, helping Billy Stark's side to a 4-0 victory.

Bavidge, 17, has missed his club's last two League One outings - a 3-2 win over Edinburgh City last midweek, and Saturday's 4-2 defeat at Montrose - to link up with the national side for the matches, which were played in Croatia.

They were arranged in preparation for next month's UEFA Euro 2024 Elite Round, in which the Scots will play Italy, who will host the fixtures, Czechia and Georgia in Group Five, having topped their group in November to progress.

Bavidge, a product of Aberdeen's youth system, started the match against Türkiye, which ended in a 1-0 loss, last Tuesday, before named in the starting line-up once more for the Latvia encounter on Friday.

That match took his cap tally for the under-19s to nine, and he added to his one goal in style by bagging three of Scotland's four goals in the first half.

Central Fife Times: Bavidge followed the first professional hat-trick of his career with his first for Scotland under-19s three days later.Bavidge followed the first professional hat-trick of his career with his first for Scotland under-19s three days later. (Image: David Wardle.)

Bavidge, who has scored seven times for Kelty so far in 16 appearances, is set to return to the squad for this Saturday's match with runaway leaders Falkirk.

Speaking to Press Sport following the win over Edinburgh, New Central Park assistant boss, Kevin McDonald, said: "It's brilliant.

"He's been tremendous since he came in - I think he's been our best player for the last month maybe, especially playing out of position as well. He's been playing off the left and he's been a massive goal threat.

"He's been tremendous. We're missing him massively; we'd love him to be with us, but it's brilliant that he's getting that recognition to play with Scotland.

Bavidge's first hat-trick for Scotland's under-19s came 13 days after he hit the first professional treble of his career, helping Kelty to a 3-0 win away to Edinburgh.