Gamble wins it for City

SETANTA CUP champions Cork City put financial strife to one side on Saturday, Joe Gamble’s first-half tap-in proving the difference between the embattled Leesiders and their plucky Belfast opponents.

The PFAI will meet with Cork City chairman Tom Coughlan in the next 24 hours to discuss the ongoing difficulties with players’ wages but manager Paul Doolin is hoping all staff would be paid for August by Friday, just over a week overdue.

The sight of just over 1,200 supporters paying through the turnstiles on a perfect night for football did little to boost revenue on a quiet month at Turner’s Cross, but those who did turn up were rewarded with an absorbing battle from which Cliftonville could justifiably argue they should have taken a point to get their Group One campaign off to what would have been a respectable start.