Chelsea Ladies produced an emphatic weekend League win over Blackburn to keep us in form for the FA Cup semi-final.

Goals from Claire Rafferty and Rebecca Jane were added to by a Dunia Susi brace in the 4-1 win, as we head towards the penultimate round against Arsenal on Sunday 4 April.

This weekend also saw Everton seal their place in the competition's final, when they beat Barnet 2-0. Goals in that game came from Natasha Dowie and England international Fara Williams.

Chelsea have one game between now and the FA Cup semi, when we host Everton at Imber Court this Sunday.

Earlier this season, Chelsea ended Everton's unbeaten League run when we beat the Toffees 5-3 back in November.

There was another Dunia Susi brace in that fixture, while Eartha Pond, Shelby Hills and Lianne Sanderson, who has since departed for the Women's Professional League in America, also found the net.

Like this weekend, Williams and Dowie scored in our earlier meeting with Everton as well. Williams netted two before Dowie, who missed a penalty in the first half, finished the scoring in the 88th minute.

'When we played them last time they didn't have their top goalscorer playing but on the day we were brilliant,' says Ladies manager Matthew Beard (pictured). 'The result was a fair reflection on the game.

'Now we just want to go out and win on Sunday because mathematically we could still win the League.

'But with regards to FA Cup,' answers Beard in relation to a possible warm up to the FA Cup Final, 'we have a real tough semi-final to get through first.

'So for now we're going to concentrate on getting three points this Sunday and then we can concentrate on the Arsenal game.'

That semi-final will be our third meeting with the Gunners this season. We have already conceded two defeats to the north London outfit, but as Beard points out, they were both closely contested games.

'We lost 3-2 at home but we deserved at least a draw although we didn't defend well enough from set pieces. Away from home I don't think either side deserved to win again, it was a very even game.

'I am quietly confident about the semi-final because they have lost Katie Chapman to America and they're not the side they were.

'They're definitely beatable, we have come close twice this year, Everton have already beaten them in one semi-final, they've just been beaten in Europe, so they're definitely beatable. I feel this could be our time.

'I have got a great side, I have some really good attacking players in this team and on our day, we can beat anyone,' adds Beard.

Elsewhere in the League, Doncaster Rovers beat a travelling Sunderland side 2-1 on Sunday. Rachel Williams scored both the winning side's goals in that game.

The win took Doncaster to fifth in the Women's Premier League, two points behind third place Chelsea, who have secured 28 points from 14 games.

We're one point ahead of Everton who have three games in hand, while Arsenal sit in second, one point behind Sunderland but with six games in hand over the Black Cats.


Visit the Ladies' section of the website for more information on the team, including player profiles.