James Linington on whistle duty for Cod Army visit
Isle of Wight-based James Linington will be in charge when high-flying Fleetwood visit SJP this weekend.
Linington is a familiar face for the Grecians, with Saturday’s game the 11th time he has taken charge of a City game in all competitions.
Of the previous ten, City have won five, drawn three and lost just two, with the most notable being City’s first win back in the Football League (1-0 at Bournemouth in 2008), the last-gasp 2-1 away win over Plymouth in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in 2010 and the 2-2 home draw with promotion-chasing Sheffield United on the last day of the 2011/12 season, when Blades striker James Beattie was sent off by Linington for a two-footed lunge.
This season Linington has refereed City on just the one occasion, the 1-1 draw at Wycombe in November. He also took charge of the League 2 play-off final in 2009 when Dagenham defeated Rotherham 3-2. This season so far he has refereed 29 games, showing 88 yellow cards and six reds in the process.
Match Officials
Referee: James Linington (Isle of Wight)
Assistant referees: Justin Amey (Dorset) & Adrian Tranter (Dorset)
Fourth official: Mark Pottage (Dorset)