Football
Coventry City 3-1 Middlesbrough

Buy photos » Andy Thorn praised the performance of Alex Nimley. Photo by Jamie Gray 50.011.017.cov.jg10

Championship

ALEX Nimley gave Middlesbrough a glimpse of what they could have had after playing his part in all three Sky Blues goals during the 3-1 victory over his former club on Saturday.

The 20-year-old, who has signed for the Sky Blues on loan from Manchester City until the end of the season, spent several months under Tony Mowbray at 'Boro towards the end of 2011.

He was seemingly deemed surplus to requirements at the Riverside which enabled the youngster to move to the Ricoh Arena.

And that bold move by Andy Thorn paid off immediately after Nimley scored one and created two others to earn his new club their first win of the new year.

"Alex (Nimley) was pretty unknown when I brought him in but I knew what he could do," said Thorn.

"The fans seem to have already made their mind up about him in the space of 90 minutes which shows how well he did, and he took his goal really well.

"He will give us a different dimension like he did today, and if he keeps putting in those performances, I will be very happy.

"It is a really big win for us. We have been playing well of late and I think things just came together for us."

The visitors looked dangerous early on and the scoreline could well have been a different picture had they converted one of several chances early on.

Former Celtic star Scott McDonald had a shot on the turn gathered at the second attempt by Sky Blues goalkeeper Joe Murphy, and the Republic of Ireland international was at full stretch again to deny Joe Bennett minutes later.

Thorn's side made their opponents rue those missed opportunities shortly after the re-start when McSheffrey played a neat one-two with Nimley before bursting into the area and firing the ball home low past Danny Coyne.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when midfielder Kevin Thompson was sent off for a second bookable offence and that enabled the hosts to put the game to bed in the second period.

McSheffrey fired a dangerous free-kick across goal which wasn't dealt with by the Middlesbrough defence and Nimley was able to head the ball just over the line for his debut goal on 57 minutes.

And soon enough it was 3-0 when substitute David Bell delivered a delightful ball across goal which was bundled into his own net by Matthew Bates.

To their credit Mowbray's side refused to throw in the towel and set up a tense final 25 minutes when McDonald converted Marvin Emnes' cross from the right past Murphy.

But with the experienced debutant Hermann Hreidersson in defence, Thorn's side never really looked like conceding and their job was made easier when Julio Arca was given a straight red for a late lunge on Sky Blues skipper Sammy Clingan.

Player ratings: Murphy 7, Keogh 6, Cranie 7, Christie 6, Hreidersson 7, Clingan 6, McSheffrey 8, Thomas 6, Deegan 5 (Bell 45 7), Platt 7, Nimley 9