Burnley Women continue winless start to the season

Burnley Women threw away the lead to lose to Sheffield United to continue their winless start to the league season.

Jackie Bachteler’s side led 2-1 at half-time at Turf Moor on Sunday, but a dramatic second-half saw them go down to a 4-3 defeat.

The result leaves the Clarets second from bottom in the Women’s Super League 2 (WSL2) table, having taken just two points from their first six games.

After falling behind to an early Mollie Rouse strike, the Clarets turned the game on its head with quick-fire goals from Emma Siddall and Leah Galton.

However, second-half efforts from Halle Houssein, Ava Baker and substitute Abbie Jones put the Blades in control before a stoppage-time own goal gave Burnley a glimmer of hope.

Bachteler made three changes to the side beaten by Aston Villa in the Subway Players Cup in midweek, with Kirstie Levell, Deanna Cooper and Galton replacing Jackie Burns, Charley Docherty and Jess Hennessy.

With Storm Boelo bringing blustery conditions to Turf Moor, the first-ever WSL2 meeting between the sides began tentatively.

Amy Andrews fashioned the first chance of note in the seventh minute, cutting inside from the right and shrugging off Naomi Hartley before seeing her shot blocked by Cooper.

From the resulting corner, Burnley failed to clear their lines and United captain Rouse was given time to control the ball before smashing home from six yards.

The Blades almost doubled their advantage two minutes later. Andrews again jinked inside from the right flank, but her left-footed effort struck the far post, with Levell gratefully gathering the rebound.

Burnley finally began to find their rhythm around the half-hour mark. Brenna McPartlan headed wide, and Tyler Toland saw an effort blocked before forcing a full-stretch save from Sian Rogers, who then denied Galton with another brave stop.

The Clarets' growing pressure finally paid off in the 37th minute. Alethea Paul's defence-splitting pass released Galton, whose cut-back picked out Siddall to calmly slot home.

Burnley came within inches of taking the lead just a minute later when Siddall teed up Jamie Finn, whose fierce drive beat Rogers but clipped the crossbar.

However, the Clarets weren't to be denied and completed the turnaround in the 41st minute. Some intricate passing released Siddall down the right, and her cross was converted from close range by Galton.

With a spring in their step, Burnley almost added a third just before the break, only for Rogers to produce a superb double save to thwart both Paul and Siddall.

United had opened the scoring from a corner and they repeated the trick just 90 seconds into the second half. Charlotte Devlin's delivery was knocked down by Rouse and Houssein rifled the ball home to restore parity.

Rouse almost grabbed her second on the hour mark, unleashing a powerful effort from distance that crashed against the crossbar and flew behind.

The woodwork came to Burnley's rescue again in the 68th minute when Rouse picked out Andrews with a lofted pass, only for the forward's fierce drive to cannon back off the bar. Levell then produced a fine save to keep out a dipping Devlin free-kick.

The visitors had seized the momentum and regained the lead in the 74th minute, albeit in fortunate circumstances. Baker's effort took a wicked deflection off Cooper and looped beyond the helpless Levell.

Things went from bad to worse for Burnley six minutes later. Having only just entered the fray, Jones was afforded time and space on the edge of the box and made no mistake, curling a fine effort into the far corner to make it 4-2.

Burnley gave themselves a lifeline in the third minute of stoppage time when a free-kick caused havoc in the United penalty area. The ball eventually fell to substitute Hennessy, whose shot deflected off Leanne Cowan and beat Rogers.

But it proved too little too late as Burnley extended their wait for a first league victory of the season.