Perth Glory striker Adam Taggart opens up on breaking club’s A-League goal-scoring record

Adam Taggart experienced a myriad of emotions when he steered the ball into the back of the net for the 60th time in a Perth Glory shirt — but the overriding one was relief. Behind the scenes, injuries, a form dip and the mental burden of the chance to make history had coalesced into a down season by the co-captain’s standards. But a season that has left the striker frustrated and tested mentally took a kinder turn on Sunday, solace arriving when the lifelong Glory fan broke Andy Keogh’s record for most Perth goals scored in the A-League era. There was a fitting symmetry in the 32-year-old’s most recent goal in a purple shirt coming in front of The Shed — the same end of HBF Park where he scored his first 15 years ago. Now only Bobby Despotovski (113 goals) and Damian Mori (84) sit ahead of him on the club’s all-time goal-scorers list, dating back to Glory’s days in the old National Soccer League when Taggart first fell in love with the club as a kid. “It’s a crazy feeling, because that’s who I grew up watching when I was a little kid. They were my heroes growing up,” Taggart told The West Australian. “To know it’s only them ahead is special. It might be difficult to break Bobby’s. I want to kick on and go as far as I can now. “It’s difficult, but you’ve always got to shoot high, so I’ll do my best to get as close to that as possible. “It was playing on my mind for a long time, and probably made it a little bit harder to finish some of those chances. I’m probably more relieved, rather than anything else, to get that one off the back and to move forward now.” It has not been the season Taggart had envisioned. He has played 19 games, 15 of them starts, but has scored just four goals. It is his lowest output since he was a teenager at Newcastle Jets and for someone who, by his own admission, is obsessed with numbers and keeping them as steadily high as possible, it has played on his mind. Part of the reason for Taggart’s struggles can be put down to injuries. In addition to a few garden-variety knocks and niggles, he has been locked in a season-long battle with a heel injury, which has only just healed. While the man himself refused to use it as an excuse, he did admit he was playing through gritted teeth for a lengthy period. “For me, it was more constant, every step, the constant thudding of it, and then passing a ball was a little bit sore,” Taggart said. “The heel I kept playing with, but was really struggling behind closed doors with that. It was something I was willing to do to try and help as much as possible, but obviously, that’s going to hinder my own performance and the way that I feel. “I was regularly training, but I just couldn’t train or play at the tempo I wanted to because I was in a lot of pain. “There’s no excuse for performance, and I still expect the best of myself, but it definitely was difficult to deal with an ongoing thing. “The first few weeks of something isn’t too bad, but as it drags on, with that comes a little bit of a confidence dip, your performances are dropping off a little bit, it’s becoming more frustrating because you want to be able to perform and play at the tempo and the sharpness. “Not that you lose belief in yourself, but you probably lose that real confidence going into games where you know you’re struggling with things.” Compounding matters was Keogh’s club record of 59 goals in the A-League era, which Taggart equalled back in January; as the games went by and Taggart could not find the breakthrough goal, it loomed larger in his head. “It’s just been difficult to find a rhythm. As much as I don’t like to say it, that record was definitely playing on my mind a little bit. I wanted to achieve it, of course; who wouldn’t?” Taggart said. “I wanted to achieve it last year and so coming into this season, it was in the back of my mind but as the season was getting on, and I was getting that little bit closer, it was definitely playing on my mind. “Of course, you try not to think about it, because you know it’s not the best thing to do, and you want to focus on how to get there rather than actually getting there. “But it’s always going to be there. I knew that once I was able to do it, it’d be a massive relief.” Thankfully, the clouds are clearing; Taggart’s goal on the weekend did not just secure his place in history, but also grabbed Perth a draw to keep their finals hopes alive. The heel problem has eased up, too and with four games left to play, Taggart is feeling confident he can kick on and end the campaign on a positive note. “When you feel physically good, it definitely breeds a lot of confidence...you can enjoy your training and your games, which is what I’ve started to do over the past few weeks,” he said. “Goal-scoring is one of those things where confidence does you the world of good. When you’re feeling free and relaxed, that feeling you know you’re going to put your chances away, it’s a completely different ball game than just wanting or trying to.” And as for beyond this season? “I’d love to finish my career here. I don’t know how long I’m going to play for, but I’d definitely like to finish here in whatever role that may be moving forward. “It’s obviously a place that’s close to my heart. I love playing for the club, and so I’d love to continue.”