Adam Taggart scored a hat-trick for the Young Socceroos in their 5-0 win over New Zealand at WIN stadium on Monday.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets striker Adam Taggart scored a hat-trick for the Young Socceroos in their 5-0 win over New Zealand at WIN stadium on Monday.
Taggart was one of four Jets players who featured for the Young Socceroos in their final warm-up match on home soil before heading to Turkey for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Josh Brillante, Andrew Hoole and Connor Chapman all started the fixture for Australia, with Brillante and Hoole going on to play the full 90 minutes, while Chapman was substituted in the 76th minute.
The Young Socceroos began the match brightly and it took Taggart just four minutes to break the deadlock. Following determined work by attacker Connor Pain down the left, Taggart slid an accurate left foot shot beyond Kiwi custodian Scott Basalaj to give the Young Socceroos the lead.
If Taggart-s first of the afternoon was clinical, his second was simply sublime. Receiving the ball on the edge of the area, the youngster curled a fierce right foot shot into the top left corner of the goal to bring the crowd of 2,223 to their feet.
Shortly after the interval Taggart put the game out of the Junior All White-s reach with his third goal of the encounter. Substitute Jason Geria, who had replaced the injured Terry Antonis at the break, sent a crisp pass into the six-yard box that Taggart lashed home at the first time of asking.
Jamie Maclaren and Ryan Edwards added the Young Socceroos- fourth and fifth goals respectively.
The Young Socceroos depart for Turkey tomorrow for a pre-tournament training camp where they will play Chile-s U-20 team in a friendly in Antalya on Monday, June 17 before beginning their 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup campaign against Colombia in Trabzon on Saturday, June 22.
