Marist farewell Goodwin with Mid Northern loss

Marist put in a huge effort to farewell Dan Goodwin in his final Northland club game before he transfers to the Bay of Plenty to take up a contract with the Steamers.
Goodwin, or "Chicken" to his mates, was stoked to end his career with the club playing against the competition's perennial heavyweights, Mid Northern, even though they went down 21-11 in a tight match.
"Both teams were a little bit under strength in the end but I was glad to play my final match up here against Mid Northern against guys like Dooley [David Holwell], Hamster [Jason Hammond] and BT [Brad Taylor]," he said.
The 29-year-old played four seasons for Northland and said there had been plenty of highlights along the way.
"All the years have been good but a big highlight was when we won our first game after a long drought and the other was probably playing in Dooley's 100th - that was a pretty big occasion for all the boys," he said.
Goodwin was born in Gisborne but spent his early years in Kaitaia, before his family moved to Tauranga.
"It's pretty sad to be leaving Northland, I've enjoyed it up here and we still see it as a home for us but we got offered an opportunity down there for a couple of years  and I'm really starting to look forward to that now," he said.
 
 On Saturday, the Marist forwards took the game to a depleted Mid Northern line-up but in the end the home side used their experience to grind out a win with tries to Hammond, Brad Miller and Thomas Williams.
A hat-trick of tries to second five-eighth Sonatane Takalua saw the Western Sharks maintain their unbeaten start to the club rugby season - and lead the table - with a 31-7 win over Hora Hora in Whangarei.
Hikurangi trail the Sharks by one point on the championship table after four rounds with a big 50-8 win over Wellsford at Hikurangi Park. Hikurangi played the game up front and despite having some trouble against the champions in the set-piece, were rewarded with a big win.
In the Wrightson PGG Premier Reserve grade, the Western Sharks won their fourth match to remain on top of the table, beating Hora Hora 24-6. Kamo beat Mid Western 17-13 to also start the season with four straight wins but trail the Sharks by four points, by virtue of the Dargaville's side's bonus point. Mid Northern and Hikurangi were the other winners on Saturday.