The 25-year-old Jets forward netted his first goal of the season to condemn strugglers Glory to further pain at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
Newcastle were aiming to secure back-to-back wins for the first time since February, after defeating the high-flying Wellington 3-0 in their most recent fixture.
INCREDIBLE! NEWCASTLE JETS EQUALISE IN THE 97TH MINUTE 🤯�— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) Trent Buhagiar bundles home the ball to snatch a late point for his side - there was �� ������� of stoppage time remaining!Match Report + Highlights: https://t.co/2qd9ttB3FRCatch all the action on… pic.twitter.com/ugqNJJcsR3December 16, 2023
Though avoiding their fifth-straight loss of the season, Perth still walked away disappointed.
"It's gut-wrenching," Glory coach Alan Stajcic said after the match.
"I thought we had three or four chances to even put the game in the bed even in that period and we didn't take it.
"To concede one like that in the last 20, 30 seconds of a game is not good enough.
"It was just a free kick in their own half that they've launched into the box. You should defend that every day of the week."
Sitting bottom of the table, regular lapses have meant the Glory have conceded at least twice in every match this season, aside from their 2-0 victory over Central Coast.
They had coughed up nine goals on their four-match losing streak before heading to Newcastle.
With Glory trailing by one goal at halftime, Adam Taggart's raking right foot shot past Jets goalkeeper Ryan Scott in the 46th minute after a clinical pass from teammate Luke Ivanovic.
Adam Taggart (r) celebrates after scoring Perth's first goal against Newcastle. (Darren Pateman/AAP PHOTOS)
Stefan Colakovski doubled down to put the Glory 2-1 up just ten minutes later, after intercepting a poor back pass from Newcastle defender Clayton Taylor.
Taggart was close to notching a brace in the 63rd minute but was denied after a VAR review for offside.
"We shot ourselves in the foot," a disappointed Jets coach Rob Stanton said after his side were forced on the back foot despite a masterclass first-half performance.
"Once you got your foot on the throat, you don't let them up.
"You got a team that lost four on the trot, and they're desperate.
"And when you're desperate and you can regroup, find ways to win.
"I'm not angry at the players, not disappointed in them.
"I'm actually quite proud of them because we saw character, we saw resilience."
With just a minute left of eight minutes of additional time, Buhagiar slashed Glory's hopes with a sweeping strike past goalkeeper Cameron Cook to level the score.
Newcastle striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos drew first blood on 26 minutes, converting a penalty for his eighth goal in seven games after Mark Beevers fouled Thomas Aquilina.
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