Liverpool striker Natasha Dowie says her side are determined to emerge from this season with the FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup crown after marching into the semi-finals.
The 27-year-old netted all four of Liverpool’s goals in their 4-1 victory at Bristol Academy, having also bagged a double in their 2-0 home league win over the Vixens in August.
After Dowie’s penalty the hosts had gone into the interval level. Skipper Sophie Ingle set up Jade Boho-Sayo who turned onto her right foot before firing low into the bottom corner.
Bristol Academy 1-4 Liverpool Ladies
FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup
Sunday 13 September
Stoke Gifford Stadium
But three from Dowie after the break helped Liverpool surge clear, and with silverware now firmly in their sights in the Continental Tyres Cup, she is backing her side to go all the way.
“It was a fantastic day,” she said. “I’ve just seen Bristol’s manager Willie Kirk, who says he’s sick of the sight of me!
“We have beaten some very good teams to get to the last four and we can be proud of that, but now we want to keep it going, try to win the competition and takes some silverware back to Liverpool.
“Obviously the league title is beyond us now and we have had some big injury problems this season.
Tash Dowie was in scintillating form for Liverpool in Bristol on Sunday
“But we are winners at this club – we have won back-to-back titles – and we are taking the Continental Tyres Cup very seriously.
“It’s a huge competition for us and anyone can beat anyone in this league, so there’s no reason why we can’t win this cup.
“We still have that and the Champions League to play for, and we are going to give it everything we have got.”
Meanwhile a despondent Angharad James admitted her side will now turn all their attention to trying to stay up in the FA WSL 1 with just two games left to play.
Bristol sit five points off Birmingham at the foot of the table and need every result to go their way from here on.
“We have nobody to blame but ourselves for the position we are in because we haven’t been getting the results we neede”
Angharad James Bristol Academy
She said: “We knew before the game what a good player Tash Dowie is and we had a plan to try and stop the supply to her, but it obviously didn’t work.
“The story of our season is that some of our performances have been OK, but there’s not been enough end product, and that was the case again today.
“We have nobody to blame but ourselves for the position we are in because we haven’t been getting the results we needed.
“Now we have to make sure we play with some pride in our last two matches and go to Manchester City in our next match and try to win it.
“It’s obviously very disappointing result for all of us but we still need to give our all over the final two games to try and stay up.”
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