Congratulations to Mackintosh Snooker who are the CDSA 2025-26 League Cup winners after they beat holders Fairwater Cons 4-1 in a tense and closely-fought contest at Canton Liberal Club. The match was a repeat of last year’s inaugural final and was played in a very good spirit, with every frame being decided on the colours.

The opening frame saw Dan Bridle face Eassa Din with both players having early opportunities to show how good their long potting is, but neither could establish a lead as the frame got to the colours. A few exchanges of very good safety play meant the frame remained close, but Bridle sank the blue to leave Din needing snookers and Fairwater took the lead.

The second frame saw Jason Hewett drawn against Nathan Dunne, who started well to build a decent lead against the former Cardiff Open champion, but Hewett began to find some fluency to reduce the deficit. However, as the frame entered the closing stages some excellent safety and matchplay from Dunne restored his lead on the colours and a very good long pink sealed the win and drew the Mackintosh level at 1-1.

Mike Nessbert began his frame very strongly as he opened up a 30-point lead over Terry Garland, but a 31 break from the Player of the Year runner-up saw him restore parity at the midway point in the frame. Garland took the lead with a couple of reds remaining, but strong potting and excellent matchplay from the Mackintosh captain saw him seal the win on the colours to give his side a 2-1 advantage.

As with most League Cup matches this season, the match was decided with the doubles frame as Twm Sion Jones and Shaun O’Connell paired up against Handicap Pairs semi-finalists Carlo Schiazza and Nathan Dunne. An epic frame ensued with neither pair able to open up a lead on the first few reds, but the Mackintosh duo manage to build a decent advantage with several reds left. All four players’ safety and tactical play was excellent as any opening had to be well-earned, although neither side could make a match-winning break as the frame headed towards the colours. However, a well-laid snooker by Dunne created an opening for his partner, who took full advantage to pot the brown before sinking the blue in the opposite middle pocket, and despite Jones and O’Connell’s best efforts they were unable to lay the snooker needed, leaving Schiazza the chance to finish the match with a pink to the green pocket to give Mackintosh the win and League Cup title.