Adam Taggart hit his first hat-trick in more than five years to continue his scorching hot K-League goalscoring streak.
The Caltex Socceroos hitman netted a treble in Suwon Bluewings’ 3-1 victory at Gangwon FC to rack up 16 goals in 19 starts since his February move to the Korea Republic from Brisbane Roar.
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The 26-year-old had not taken home a match ball since scoring three for Newcastle Jets in a 3-1 win against Melbourne Heart in November 2013, the season he won the Hyundai A-League Golden Boot with 16 goals.
And the Joondalup-born striker is in pole position to become the first Australian to be crowned the K-League’s top scorer, as he sits six goals clear of his closest rivals.
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Taggart struck in the 13th-minute at Chuncheon Songam Stadium when he rose highest on the penalty spot to head in a corner from Kim Jong-woo.
He doubled his tally on 56 minutes when he took a pass from Koo Ja-Ryong and slammed in a half-volley from the edge of the Gangwon area.
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And Taggart fired into an empty net deep into stoppage time to complete his hat-trick after Jeon Sejin had gone around goalkeeper Kim Ho-jun.
After initially finding his feet in Suwon, scoring five times in his first 12 K-League games, Taggart has fired 11 goals in his last 11 league matches. Bluewings lie in sixth place after 26 games.
