Quirk was involved in three of the four Bournemouth goals at Vicarage Road on Sunday, scoring one, assisting another and winning a penalty for the last.
The forward opened the scoring after three minutes at Watford, when she lifted the ball over the keeper after latching onto Zoe Barratt’s excellent ball over the top.
Quirk then turned provider for Barratt when she cut it back for her to finish for the Cherries’ second, before the ex-Portsmouth forward won a penalty deep into stoppage time with Watford looking for an equaliser.
(Image: Newsquest)
Reflecting on the game, she said: “I think the disappointment definitely fuelled us today to go out there, just finish the season on a high, give back to all our fans who’ve come and supported us this season as well.
“Obviously you’ve got to do everything you can to help the team every week. Yeah, it’s just doing everything for this team, it feels really good.”
On her first goal, she said: “I could see that she was out the goal, didn’t have time to take a touch, so I just thought I’d go for it and try and lift it over her, and obviously thankfully it went in.”
Sophie Quirk continued her fine goal scoring form (Image: Richard Crease)
Asked about the connection with Barratt, Quirk said: “We’ve been linking up a lot in training and stuff, it was really good to see it come out on the pitch as well on a Sunday and she got a goal as well.”
Quirk admitted that she could have gone to the corner to kill some more time at 3-2, but choosing to run at the defence paid dividends when she won the late penalty that sealed the victory.
“I could hear everyone screaming at me for the corner, and I think my legs were screaming at me to go to the corner, but I just saw them drop off and I saw the opportunity, so I just went for it,” she said.
Sophie Quirk. (Image: Newsquest)
“Thankfully it paid off. It was really good to end on a high with another goal!
Reflecting on her first season as a Cherry, and one that has been very successful despite the natural disappointment at missing out on promotion, Quirk said: “I think it’s really positive, really good season.
“We’ve got the cup win, we’ve built a firm foundation in this league as well, and I think it gives us fuel to go on to next season.”