Adam Taggart has set his sights on winning the A-League’s Golden Boot award following his brace against Western Sydney.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets striker Adam Taggart has set his sights on winning the Hyundai A-League-s Golden Boot award following his brace against Western Sydney Wanderers at Hunter Stadium last weekend.
Taggart-s double against the Wanderers took him to equal-top of the Hyundai A-League-s leading goal scorers chart, alongside Wellington Phoenix front-man Stein Husyegems.
The 20-year-old Olyroos representative said he was determined to finish the season as the competition-s leading marksman.
“I want to score goals and that-s the only thing I-m really thinking about on the pitch, so if I can get as many goals as I can before the end of the year that would be great,” Taggart explained.
“To be honest, even at the start of the season before I-d played much I-ve always thought I-d love to win a Golden Boot.
“It-s a long shot and I-m up against some great players in the likes of (Besart) Berisha and (Stein) Husyegems.
“For me it-s a challenge, but I think you need to aim high if you want to achieve big things.
“The Golden Boot is definitely something I-m looking for, but at the end of the day it comes from the great support I have around me and the opportunities they-ve given me.
“Hopefully we can continue that and we can all achieve something great.”
Taggart felt his brace against the Wanderers could be the catalyst for another goal scoring streak, similar to the one which saw him find the back of the net six times in three matches earlier in the season.
“I-m always looking to score goals and sometimes once one goes in, it feels like they-re all going to go in,” Taggart said.
“For me, I don-t care if it-s a three-centimetre tap-in or a shot from the halfway line.
“They all count and it can contribute to a result for the team at the end of the day.
“Hopefully I can carry on and I-ll be working as hard as ever to keep that going, because at the end of the day that-s why I-m on the pitch.”
Taggart said he was relishing learning from the likes of former English Premier League stars Emile Heskey and Michael Bridges, as well 2007/08 A-League Golden Boot winner Joel Griffiths.
“It-s just more competition in the team and for me that-s a positive thing,” Taggart said.
“It-s good having people like Emile, Bridgey and Joel around you to push you higher and that-s what we-re trying to do for each other.
“At the same time, we-d all love to play together at some stage and hopefully if we can, we can try to put the ball in the back of the net a bit more.”
Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix
Sunday, February 9
Hunter Stadium
Kick-off 5pm
Tickets available from PROticket.
