Burnley are sitting pretty at the top of the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier – and one of the most striking statistics thus far is the fact that they have conceded only four goals.
Goalkeeper Kirstie Levell is unsurprisingly very proud of that. The secret, she tells SheKicks.net, is “getting the girls to enjoy defending as much as we love attacking.
“We’ve been working really hard on transition and getting numbers back behind the ball, I think, is important as it is to score up the other end of the pitch, not concede and put you in good stead for winning the game, but also confidence as a team.
“Where it’s come from is the training pitch and that desire and fight to get back in numbers – and then we’ve just took that into games.”
Their most recent win – 4-0 against Norwich City – came in the Women’s FA Cup at the weekend as they progressed to the third round proper.
“It’s massive for the club in terms of we are trying to get as far as we can,” she says. “We’re just taking each game as it comes.”
“We’ve had each other’s backs”
The Clarets are continuing to make progress under Lou Roberts, who assumed the role of interim head coach after the resignation of the late Matt Beard at the start of the season.
And Levell has high praise for the way Roberts has led the team in difficult circumstances.
“Robbo’s been great for us,” she says. “We have got different leaders, we’ve got different experiences and it’s nice that in such sad circumstances, [those experiences have] really brought us together as a team, a group of players, and shown real togetherness throughout it. We’ve had each other’s backs and Robbo’s always tried to be open and honest with us about different changes going on and things like that.
“We appreciate Robbo sticking with us and she’ll be happy that we’ve put our trust in her and we’re continuing our good run of games.”
Kirstie Levell: Rugby Borough will put up a fight
Burnley may be at the top of the table but it’s still only November. Nevertheless, Levell says she would rather be the chased than the chasing pack.
“At the same time, we’re looking to not look too far ahead as we have in previous seasons and get carried away,” she adds. “We’ve just got to graft on the training pitch, which we’re continuing to do, and takes us nicely into the Christmas break. Hopefully, fingers crossed, we can remain there and then come back again and kick off where we’ve left.”
Before that Christmas break – when Levell is hoping for a nice traditional festive meal with her family – this weekend there’s a big match as they travel to Rugby Borough, who sit in third place.
“Rugby will put up a fight, they always do. They’re well organised. They’ve got a brilliant keeper in Poppy [Soper].
“It’ll be nice to see familiar faces – friends off the pitch and once the game gets going, then it’ll be like any other game, just fighting for the three points.”
