BLACKBURN Rovers Ladies came close to a famous victory away to Everton in the Women’s Premier League on Sunday, until a late Natasha Dowie double sealed a 4-2 win for the title-chasing Toffees.

Rovers made the worst possible start at Marine FC, conceding after less than a minute when Emily Westwood netted.

But the visitors were soon back on level terms when Katie Anderton headed home Chantelle Parry’s pinpoint cross on the quarter-hour.

And an upset looked on the cards when Natalie Preston pounced eight minutes after the break with a virtual carbon copy.

But two goals in quick succession from Michelle Evans and Dowie just past the hour mark turned the tide in the home side’s favour, before Dowie secured the points with her second of the afternoon in the last minute of the game.

Rovers manager Adam Lakeland said: “I generally can’t be too disappointed with the performance of the players.

“Yet again, we’ve shown that we can compete with the top teams, but we’ve got to start turning some of the these good performances into points.

“However, it was certainly the closest we’ve come in my two years here to getting something off them.”