Page 14 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.25 2022-23

It has been a magnificent season so far for Burnley FC
Women as they have been firmly amongst the FAWNL
Northern Premier Division title challengers right from
the start and, whilst still sporting an unbeaten record,
they further underlined their title credentials with a 4-1
victory over Derby County.
Millie Ravening has been a key performer for the
Clarets throughout the campaign and the team’s
leading scorer told us that their fantastic scoring record
is a ‘massive’ boost for the team in a three-way title race
which looks set to go all the way to the wire:
WSS: Well done on your victory on Sunday,
given Derby's recent form, is that as good a
win as you have picked up this season?
MR: Thanks! I think the performance against Derby
was sort of a marker of how far we've come this season to be honest. Whether it's our best
win, I think that's open to interpretation. We've won games 1-0 and won games 7-0, both
only get you three points but having had two close games against Derby already this
season, it was nice to get three points in the manner we did.
WSS: You got off to a fantastic start with three early goals, is that a mark of
the confidence that the team has built up?
MR: Yeah I'd have to agree with that, particularly going forward. We always speak about
starting strong, and we've scored early on in both of our last two now. Getting goals early
like that helps confidence to grow from the off in games.
WSS: You have a lot of firepower in your forward line with 21 goals in your
last four league games and three of the division's top scorers including Laura
Elford, who has joined you recently. How big a boost to the team is it knowing
that you have so much goal potential amongst you?
MR: It's massive. At the end of the day you can't win games without scoring goals, and
scoring as many as we have recently is a great thing for us. So much work goes into it on
the training pitch, so it's nice when we can make chances count in game situations. Laura
is on fire at the moment, when she came in we knew how much of a threat she could be so
let's hope she continues her scoring touch!
WSS: You have no game this week but your next one is a huge match against
leaders Nottingham Forest. What are your thoughts on that game coming up?
MR: This break in play has probably come at the wrong time for us to be honest, but what
it does do is give us more time to prepare and build up to that game against Forest. They
beat us last time we played them in the League Cup, and obviously they're top of the table
at the moment, so we know we've got to go there and get a result. We have to - and will -
treat it like every other game in the way we prepare for it though.
WSS: With three teams still closely involved in the title race, can you see it
going all the way to the wire?
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