Archer bags 11th as Boro hold Coventry

LONDON, England (CMC):

Cameron Archer netted his 11th goal of the season yesterday as Middlesbrough came from behind to draw 1-1 with Coventry City on the final day of the Championship season.

The 21-year-old, who is eligible to represent Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz through his mother, scored in first-half stoppage to cancel out Gustavo Hamer’s 22nd-minute opener at the Riverside Stadium.

With the result, Middlesbrough finished fourth on 75 points, five ahead of Coventry who they face in next Sunday’s first leg of the Championship play-offs.

“In the first half we weren’t quite fully at it. That little spark, that extra bit of quality that we are used to seeing, we couldn’t quite find …,” said Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick.

“But the longer the game went on I thought we come into it, controlled it for large spells and played pretty well.”

Knowing a win would confirm fifth place and confirm the play-off fixture with Middlesbrough, it was Coventry who struck first, Hamer netting from inside the 18-yard box.

Archer, however, on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa, restored parity when he beat goalkeeper Zack Steffen with a volley into the upper right hand corner following a quickly taken corner, in time added at the end of the first half.

Archer’s latest strike is likely to intensify speculation over his future, with the player expected to return to Villa Park in the summer but supporters urging Boro to make the loan deal permanent.