30/04/2026
Huge congratulations to the Kinloss Eagles, crowned Men’s Bowl champions after a hard-fought 26–16 victory over Hawick Linden at Hive Stadium.
Kinloss Eagles were crowned Men’s Bowl champions after a gritty 26-16 win over Hawick Linden who feature in their first-ever Bowl Final at Hive Stadium.
The game was delayed in the opening minutes due to an injury to John Freur of Hawick Linden, with Justin Tait replacing him.
Kinloss took the first points on offer when standoff fullback Euan Duguid kicked an early penalty (3-0, 7 mins).
Paula rokocua received a yellow card for Kinloss after a high tackle and after a series of penalty infringements, Riley Muir drew Hawick Linden level with his penalty (3-3, 19 mins).
Linden dominated the possession for the majority of the first half but had little to show for the efforts before they found space out wide and replacement Justin Tait made no mistake finishing in the corner as half time loomed (3-8, 38 mins).
Half-time: Kinloss Eagles 3-8 Hawick Linden
Kinloss came out firing in the second half and after nearly finding the right corner, it was through waisea qase who forced his way over the tryline for their first try, with Duguid adding the extra two to reclaim the lead (10-8, 46 mins).
Duguid’s reliable boot extended the men in red’s lead even further when he slotted a penalty in front of the posts. Linden responded with their own penalty kick to keep the game to a narrow two-point margin (13-11, 53 mins).
With silverware on the line, Kinloss opted for the three points off a penalty to edge just further ahead and Duguid made no mistake (16-11, 62 mins).
The crowd came alive when peni bula ran in a try from within his own half, beating three defenders to score right under the posts (23-11, 64 mins).
Linden responded immediately through Captain Aiden Fairbairn who forced his way over the line to bring the game within a converted try (23-16, 65mins)
Linden’s Greg Cottrell was shown a red card. Duiguid slotted his third penalty of the encounter to secure the Bowl title for Kinloss as the final whistle sounded.
Credit to SRU for the report and image
