Standy in here

Natasha Dowie can’t hide her excitement. She is exhausted, but cannot keep the wonder from her voice. On Monday, the 21-year-old striker scored a goal in the last minute of extra time which won Everton a first FA Women’s cup in the club’s history – and time inflicted the first cup-final defeat on reigning champions Arsenal. And after a night of celebrating she still cannot believe her luck. “It’s like a dream. As soon as I connected with it [the ball] I knew it was going in. I just ran into the crowd and hugged some random boy – I don’t even know if he was a supporter.” The rest of the team were, of course equally ecstatic at the win. “We didn’t even shower,” Dowie laughs, “we just went straight out in our tracksuits into Liverpool. I was still wearing my flip flops. I must have got in about four o’clock this morning, so I’m struggling a bit, but it’s worth it.”

The only cloud marring the win, was the fact that on the day her family and friends were cheering her victory, a more famous Dowie – her uncle Hull manager Iain – was watching his team drop from the Premier League. “It’s a shame because he’s a terrific guy,” she says. “But he’s done his best in Hull it’s probably not worked out the way he wanted it to, but he will kick on and do well wherever he goes. “And she says, he was still one of the first to congratulate her after the game – after getting home in time to catch her winning goal. “He texted me and rung me to tell me how proud he was. He didn’t talk about his own game he was more focused on me and how proud he was of me which was lovely.”

Now she says, she is just pleased that playing for Everton means she is closer to the former striker, who lives in Bolton, and who has been a “massive influence” on her. “I always ask his advice when I see him,” she says. “I was quite young when he played, but I watched tapes of him and he was a terrific striker.”

It’s the second time Dowie’s professional path has crossed her uncle’s. In 2006 (CHECK) she played at Charlton Athletics Ladies while Iain Dowie coached the men’s side. Yet hearing her talk about holding down a full time job coaching at Stevenage Borough football club’s academy, getting lifts from her father and “scraping for pennies”, it’s obvious her lifestyle cannot compare with players involved in the men’s Premier League. Does the difference annoy her? “It is frustrating when you see what kind of money the men are on a week,” she agrees. “They train two hours a day and we are training probably more than they do. We are all holding down full time jobs. It’s very tiring, I’m not going to lie. Mo [Everton coach Mo Marley] helps out with travelling expenses, but we don’t get paid to play so it is tough. But days like yesterday (Monday) make you realise why you play the sport. “

But she hopes the new Women’s Super League due to be launched in 2011, will helps change things. “I’m very excited. Hopefully more people will come and watch us play, and if we get paid we might have more time to train. It’ll be more competitive and it might even attract foreign players.” And she says the fact more girls than ever are taking up the sport should also help. “When I was at school I was only girl playing, but now it’s 50 50. The boys didn’t even like me playing with them in the playground. When I was 14 we were in a 5-a-side tournament and our team got through to the final. I scored most of the goal but the boys complained so I wasn’t allowed to play in the final. I wasn’t the most confident kid when I was younger and I found it quite hard but I loved playing football so any chance I had I would play.”

For now though her mind is on one thing – the Premier League title. On Thursday Everton will play Leeds and on Sunday they will face Arsenal again. “I’m getting alot of attention people wanting to know me now! It’s nice and I’m going to make the most of it as we are back in the League on Thursday so I am going to enjoy it while I can. We have three games in less than a week so it’s back to business.”

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• ‘It’s a horrible feeling but we just have to get on with it’
• Bullard apologises to Women’s Institute for Barmby bust-up

Jimmy Bullard believes his former manager Phil Brown deserved the chance to see out the season with Hull City. Brown departed last week following a run of four successive defeats and with the Tigers entrenched in the bottom three. But the decision was still a surprise given Brown’s achievements in his three and a half years with Hull and coming so close to the end of the season.

It also followed a match against Arsenal where 10-man City looked set to hold on for a draw until a late mistake by the goalkeeper Boaz Myhill. Asked whether Brown, who was quickly replaced by Iain Dowie, deserved more time, the midfielder Bullard said: “I felt so, I really did. Coming after the Arsenal game, where I felt like we did really well, it was a bit of a shock for me.

“I was surprised but it’s happened to me before when Chris Coleman ended up leaving Fulham. If you’re down in that relegation zone or your team’s on a bad run, the manager’s getting put under serious amounts of pressure.

“Chairmen, owners, they want results. They’re thinking: ‘We can’t change the players, can we change the manager?’ That’s the way it is. It’s a horrible feeling but we’ve just got to get on with it.

“He had a great three years. I’ve spoken to him and he respects the decision. I didn’t get into great detail with him because he was upset and obviously we were. But he’s a man and I suppose he took it like a man and held his chin up high.”

Bullard admitted feeling a sense of responsibility for Brown’s fate. “We step on the pitch and, when your manager gets pushed out, you blame yourself,” he added. “Obviously we haven’t done enough to keep him here. I know he’s a good man, and that’s a big part of why I signed. Sod the football side, I liked him as a man.”

One of Brown’s final tasks was to face the media following a fight in training between Bullard and Nicky Barmby ahead of the Arsenal game. The incident was made more embarrassing because it was witnessed by a large party from the Women’s Institute.

Bullard said the pressure of Hull’s situation had been a factor: “There were a few words said and it just got out of hand. We did have a little roll around but one thing I do apologise for is to do it in front of the old ladies. It shouldn’t have happened and I apologise on Nick’s behalf as well.”

Despite the incident, Bullard insists the spirit within the camp is good following their first week working with the former Crystal Palace and Charlton manager Dowie. With former club Fulham due at the KC Stadium on Saturday, Bullard continued: “Always when there’s a new manager been brought in, there’s life brought in, training’s a bit sharper, a bit more intense. Players have got to prove what they can do to the new manager.

“As a team, we’re all behind one another without a shadow of a doubt. We’ve got a good team spirit and, if we start believing in what we can do, which we do, as soon as we put a little run together, I think we’ll be fine.”

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• Striker complained to opponent after ‘poke in the eye’
• Says challenge on Sagna could have caused serious injury

Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner has said that George Boateng’s challenge on Bacary Sagna, which earned the Hull midfielder a second yellow card yesterday, came as a direct result of him squaring up to the Hull captain after being poked in the eye.

“I said to him: ‘If you want something, you’ve got to be fair’,” said the Arsenal striker, who scored in the 90th minute to give Arsenal a 2-1 win at the KC Stadium. “You don’t poke someone in the eye on the pitch when the ref isn’t looking.

“For me, that’s not fair. I said that to him and he got a bit upset. He took it out on Bac [Sagna] and rightly got a red card and from then on the game settled down.

“Most of the challenges were fair, except that one. It was a poor challenge. You can see Bac’s knee and it’s got stud marks all along it so the referee had no choice. It could have been another serious injury but, luckily, nothing happened.”

ArsenalHull CityPremier LeagueTim Richguardian.co.uk