DUTCH MASTER BACUNA GIVES TOWN LIFT-OFF
Manager Cowley praises substitute’s impact
DANNY Cowley saluted supersub Juninho Bacuna after the Dutchman inspired Huddersfield’s first win on home soil since February.
The 22-year-old, a £2.25m signing from Groningen in 2018, had been on the pitch for less than a minute when he teed up Karlan Grant to volley home his sixth goal of the season.
Bacuna – who also netted off the bench in a midweek win at Stoke – then unleashed an unstoppable drive of his own.
Elias Kachunga’s first goal in two years finally ended Hull’s meagre resistance, lifting Huddersfield out of the bottom three and lighting a rocket under the Cowley revolution.
“When you get congratulated for good substitutions, I sometimes think you should get criticised for not starting them,” said Cowley, who had given Bacuna two days off to deal with personal issues prior to the Stoke game.
“Juninho’s a fantastic player, he’s got so much ability. It’s almost like he’s got so many tools, so many skills and bits to his game that he doesn’t know when to choose the right one at the right time. It must be so difficult for him.
“We’re just trying to simplify his game, get the basics drilled in. Because the top players, they all do the basics so well.
“We’re working with him on that, but then the final third is his area. And you saw how good he can be in those areas.”
Cowley’s reign is still in its infancy, but already his impact on the football club shouldn’t be underestimated.
From chatting with fans during the warm-up, to applauding
every tackle, his naked enthusiasm has galvanised a miserable fanbase and spurred downtrodden players into action. For the first time in 18 months, the John Smith’s Stadium fizzed with cautious expectancy.
Rarely in a cagey opening hour did Huddersfield carve out a golden chance. Grant twice miscontrolled when through on goal, while George Long saved a routine effort from the excellent Jaden Brown.
The best chances actually fell to an otherwise off-colour Hull, who saw George Honeyman shoot weakly at Kamil Grabara before a Tom Eaves rocket was similarly repulsed.
Nevertheless, Cowley’s boys always demonstrated more energy, more determination and more control. That was typified by homegrown midfielder Lewis O’Brien, whose perpetual running was almost tiring to watch,
“I can’t wait to see Liam’s GPS stats, at least if the machine hasn’t blown up,” quipped Cowley. “I’ve only known him 26 days, but I was so proud of him. He’s a Huddersfield boy and I’m sure the whole town was proud of his performance. He covered every blade of grass and his fight – you have to carry that will. Because will beats skill, always.”
Finally, the dominance became a deluge. Bacuna played in Grant who, with his back to goal, spun and skewered a fine volley beyond the helpless Long.
Six minutes later, Adama Diakhaby picked out Bacuna to whip home from the edge of the box. O’Brien then capped his stellar show by squaring for Kachunga to slide in at the far post, a goal he understandably celebrated with wild abandon. Those scenes were matched in the stands, though not the away end, where Hull’s travelling army witnessed a first defeat on the road since the opening day of the season.
“Sometimes, you have to give credit to the opposition,” said Tigers boss Grant McCann. “They were better than us today.
“I thought we were off it from minute one. We were lucky to come in at half-time with the score 0-0. We didn’t look any real threat, which was disappointing.
“This is a good group of players and good group of boys. They’ll be hurting in there. But what they need to do is respond.
“I’ve just said to them ‘Listen, if you are happy to finish 14th, 15th, 16th in this league then come and tell me and I’ll move you on in January’.”