Burnley Women recorded a sixth straight opening day victory in emphatic style on Sunday afternoon, beating Middlesbrough Women 5-0 at the County Ground in Leyland.

Mel Lawley’s brace was accompanied by strikes from Claudia Walker, Millie Ravening and Thea Paul on a sweltering but productive first match in charge for manager Matt Beard.

There were two changes from the side that kicked off our last pre-season friendly against Lazio, with Kirstie Levell returning in goal and Charley Docherty earning a start following her late goal against the Italians.

Tilly Wilkes captained the team at left wing-back, with Yana Daniëls pushing forwards to support Brenna McPartlan in central midfield.

The Clarets dominated from the off and it didn’t take long for the deadlock to be broken.

Walker rolled her defender to latch on to McPartlan’s through ball, and the striker and coolly picked out the bottom right corner one-on-one.

Everton loanee Lawley looked threatening throughout and made it 2-0 in the 26th minute. After working a yard of space, her left-footed effort was too powerful for Megan Borthwick.

Middlesbrough had a positive spell shortly after the half hour and after two failed attempts to clear a corner, Daniëls produced a stunning goal-line header to thwart Olivia Watt.

Ravening then marked her second Burnley debut on the stroke of half-time, powering a first-time finish home after strong hold-up play from Walker.

It was 4-0 six minutes after the restart and Ravening turned provider, delivering a delicious ball for Lawley to volley in her second of the afternoon.

Beard withdrew Ravening for debutant Millie Chandarana on the hour, and further changes saw Heidi replace Lawley at the same time as Naomi Hartley took the place of Docherty.

Heidi's pace almost bore fruit immediately when she raced onto an inch-perfect over-the-top ball and forced Boro’s substitute ‘keeper Ruby Cook into a fine save.

Our final two switches saw Paul replace Jasmine Matthews before Charlie Chadwick came on for Walker, and Paul rounded off a five-star team display as the clock hit 90.

The returning Claret’s deep cross looped over everybody and nestled into the far corner, crowning a fine start to the 2025/26 Northern Premier Division of the Women’s National League season.

Next up is a trip to Chorley in the FA Women’s National League Cup on Thursday 21st August, which kicks off at 7.45pm.

Burnley: Levell, Docherty (Hartley 73), Siddall, McPartlan, Matthews (Paul 83), Walker (Chadwick 86), Ravening (Chandarana 62), Lawley (Heidi 73), Bradley, Daniëls, Wilkes

Unused Substitutes: Spencer, McDaniel

Middlesbrough: Borthwick (Cook 52), Watt (Foster 70), Packham, Towers, Turnbull, Maxwell, Robson (Nelson 46), Giles, Bell, Ferguson (Mett 65), Boyes

Unused Substitutes: Skelton, Callander

Goals: Walker 8’, Lawley 26’, 51’, Ravening 45+1’, Paul 90’