 Thursday, 21st Apr 2011 20:31 by Clive Whittingham Elite list official Lee Mason is the man in charge of the big game in Cardiff on Saturday, his second QPR appointment of the season. Referee >>> Lee Mason (Lancashire) Premiership official who joined the list in 2002 and refereed QPR’s memorable 1-0 win at Aston Villa in the League Cup two seasons ago and our 1-1 draw with Bristol City this season. Assistants >>> William Smallwood (Cheshire) and Paul Thompson (Derbyshire) Fourth Official >>> David Phillips (West Sussex) refereed our 3-1 home win against Preston in November.
PreviouslyBristol City 1 QPR 1, Friday October 22, 2010 City sensed their chance. They loaded the left side of their team with Rose, Stead and Haynes in an effort to exploit the space left when Walker ran forward for QPR. Frustration started to grow in the visiting ranks with Walker rightly yellow carded for a show of dissent when he tried to take Stead on, lost the ball and then fouled his man on halfway. A second yellow card quickly followed for Derry who fouled Marvin Elliott to prevent another swift City counter attack – that one looked harsher from referee Lee Mason, but Derry was too busy delivering a volley of abuse to Adel Taarabt who had lost the ball again to create the problem to complain to the referee. He did find time to ask a question of Mason a minute later though when Elliott committed exactly the same foul on Kyle Walker in exactly the same part of the pitch and the exact same situation but was let off with just a warning. Then in the final seconds of three added minutes Shaun Derry hooked an improvised shot over James who watched with heart in mouth as it dropped a foot wide of the far post. Derry was actually lucky to still be involved in the game at this stage as just a minute earlier he was the subject of a terrible tackle from Danny Rose back in his own half. Two footed, off the ground, late and nowhere near the ball it was as clear a red card as you’ll see all season and why Mr Mason chose to only issue a yellow when he’s usually not shy of handing out cards like confetti at a wedding only he knows. Rose strikes me as an enthusiastic player rather than a nasty one, so I’m not for one minute suggesting that he meant to hurt Derry or even execute the challenge in the way that he did, but it was an absolute horror all the same and the red card should have been out before Derry even hit the ground. Even from that chance though Rangers immediately looked vulnerable to a quick break and Faurlin was harshly yellow carded for holding Stead as City broke down field. There were further corners for Rangers, and a late half hearted penalty appeal from Marvin Elliott who felt Clint Hill had impeded his advance towards a back post cross, but having worked so hard to get back into the game there seemed to be a feeling among the QPR players that a point wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world while City for their part seemed so deflated by the late set back a second coming was well beyond them. Bristol City: James 7, Carey 6, Caulker 8, Fontaine 7, McAllister 6, Adomah 6 (Cisse 58, 6), Elliott 6, Johnson 5, Rose 7, Haynes 5, Stead 8 Subs Not Used: Gerken, Hunt, Stewart, Clarkson, Sproule, Pitman Booked: Rose (foul), Elliott (foul) Goals: Stead 16 (unassisted) QPR: Kenny 8, Walker 8, Gorkss 6, Connolly 6, Hill 6, Derry 6, Faurlin 7, Ephraim 5 (Smith 57, 6), Taarabt 5 (Agyemang 78, 7),Helguson 6 (Hulse 64, 6) Subs Not Used: Cerny, Orr, Hall, Mahon Booked: Walker (dissent), Derry (foul), Gorkss (foul), Faurlin (foul) . Goals: Agyemang 84 (assisted Smith/Connolly) Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 6 My main criticism of him, as it always has been, is more a general point about the way he controls games rather than any specific criticism of anything he did tonight. I like a referee that calms situations, has a word on the run, and man manages players rather than flashing cards around. Mason always behaves like the kid that was bullied at school and now has a chance for revenge but doesn’t really have the self confidence to carry it out in any kind of serious way. So he hands out cards. For everything. Most referees start from a free kick and work up from there, but Mason’s starting point seems to be that everything is a booking. I thought Derry, Faurlin and Elliott were very unlucky to be booked here and it was never a six card match in a million years. The one genuinely nasty tackle in the game was from Rose and when a red card was surely the only option Mason showed yellow. Not a good referee. Aston Villa 0 QPR 1, Wednesday September 24, 2008 Despite starting the second period poorly and being under pressure for almost the entire first 15 minutes QPR took a shock lead with their first attack of the half. Cometh the hour cometh Damion Stewart. Rangers owed a debt of gratitude first of all to referee Lee Mason who awarded a corner on the left flank when it was clearly a goal kick after coming off Buzsaky last. Normally in those circumstances the referee immediately blows up for a free kick to the defensive side but with little contact inside the area Guzan was able to get a firm punch away and Mason kept quiet. The ball ran across to Daniel Parejo wide on the QPR right and he whipped in a glorious cross which was gobbled up enthusiastically by Stewart at the near post after he’d remained forward following the corner. The Big Jamaican’s third of the season headed with such velocity it nearly ripped the net off the back of the posts.
Rangers also had cause to worry about the referee. I’m always wary of Premiership officials refereeing Premiership teams in situations like this because as soon as the lower league side takes the lead all the decisions start going the way of the big clubs and sure enough, probably with the incorrect decision to award QPR a corner for the goal still fresh in his mind, Mason started to award one questionable free kick after another to the home side. The most farcical saw Di Carmine, introduced for Agyemang with 25 minutes to go, chase Zat Knight down to his own byline and then watch perplexed as the big man fell over under no contact whatsoever and picked the ball up on his way down only to be awarded a free kick himself. Ledesma was harshly penalised for a foul that looked like a good tackle and Delaney was booked for a poor lunge on Craig Gardner - Villa quickly followed this up with bookings of their own for Gardner and Cuellar as frustration started to set in. Parejo stung the keeper’s hands with a low drive eight minutes from time but QPR’s attacking ambition was becoming more and more limited with each passing minute and whenever they did venture into the Villa half Mason immediately whistled against them and the ball came flying back over their heads. Aston Villa: Guzan 6, Gardner 6, Cuellar 6, Knight 5, Shorey 6, Osbourne 5 (Routledge 67, 5), Petrov 5, Barry 5, Ashley Young 7, Harewood 4 (Agbonlahor 67, 6), Carew 7 Subs Not Used: Friedel, Delfouneso, Davies, Salifou, Reo-Coker Booked: Cuellar (foul) Gardner (foul) QPR: Cerny 7, Connolly 7, Hall 8, Stewart 9, Delaney 5, Mahon 7, Rowlands 8, Parejo 8, Ledesma 8 (Balanta 90, -), Buzsaky 7 (Leigertwood 81, -), Agyemang 6 (Di Carmine 66, 6) Subs Not Used: Camp, Blackstock, Gorkss, Ephraim Booked: Delaney (foul) Goals: Stewart 58 (assisted Parejo) Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 4 Not too bad at all for the first hour but after getting the corner decision so badly wrong in the lead up to the goal he then seemed desperate to even things up. Some strange decisions given from that point on reaffirming my dislike for Premiership refs when Premiership teams are losing to sides from lower divisions. Look after your own and all that, he certainly did his best for them in the last half hour. Leicester 1 QPR 1, Saturday September 15, 2007 A quarter of an hour in Campbell did put the ball in the net but the referee and linesman both quickly signalled that an infringement had taken place and the goal was ruled out. From my seat at the opposite end of the ground it looked to me like Campbell had punched the ball in Devon White style but others around me felt that a foul on Camp had taken place. Either way the goal was disallowed and there were few complaints from the home side.
It took fully 20 minutes for QPR's long ball game to yield any kind of result. Finally one of the punts dropped around the penalty area and Blackstock was able to knock it back to Rowlands who volleyed over under pressure. Blackstock was clearly growing frustrated again as the half wore on and that only increased when he chased Bruno N'Gotty down to the corner flag and successfully robbed him of possession only for referee Lee Mason to award a generous free kick in the home team's favour. Three minutes later though the inevitable Leicester goal arrived. Mikele Leigertwood gave the ball away in a poor area and then Damion Stewart foolishly left his foot in on Campbell after Leicester worked the ball into the penalty area. Mason quickly pointed to the spot. It was maybe a little soft, and Campbell certainly went over very easily, but he was heading away from the goal and offering little threat to QPR so Stewart should have left him well alone. The ever impressive Iain Hume stepped up and sent Camp the wrong way. Rangers got a let off from the officials soon after though when Hume crossed for Cort to finally find the target with a header but a late flag from the linesman ruled the goal out. Leicester: Fulop 7, N'Gotty 6, Kisnorbo 8, McAuley 7, Sheehan 7, Hume 8, Clemence 7, Wesolowski 7, Porter 8 (Kishishev 78, 5), Campbell 7 (Chambers 73, 5), Cort 5 (De Vries 90, -) Subs Not Used: Henderson, Newton Booked: McAuley (foul) Goals: Hume 63 pen (assisted Campbell) QPR: Camp 7, Cullip 8, Stewart 6, Rehman 5, Barker 5, Rowlands 5, Leigertwood 6, Bolder 5 (Ephraim 72, 8), Moore 3, Blackstock 6, Sahar 5 (Nardiello 46, 7) Subs Not Used: Cole, Bignot, Curtis Booked: Leigertwood (foul) Goals: Leigertwood 82 (assisted Rowlands) Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire) 7 Well refereed with only a couple of cards. The penalty looked pretty blatant to me at the time and I'd certainly have been furious if we'd been denied a spot kick in similar circumstances. West Brom 3 QPR 3, Tuesday October 31, 2006 With the two minutes of allotted stoppage time played referee Lee Mason allowed QPR to go ahead with their first corner kick of the night. The delivery from Cook was poor but the ball was cleared back out to him and he didn't need asking a second time. A beautiful curling ball to the back post isolated the home defence and Damion Stewart had the simple task of poking the ball home from three yards out.
Lee Mason didn't help their cause when they finally got Cook running towards the goal in a three on three only to be pulled right back to the halfway line for a free kick. Obviously Mr Mason, who remember bought that shocking dive from Gavin Williams and awarded a penalty to Ipswich at Loftus Road in August, wouldn't know the advantage rule if it wandered up and stole his wallet. In the end that decision played into QPR's hands because, clearly embarrassed and apologetic to any QPR player that would listen, Mason quickly awarded a free kick for absolutely nothing right on the edge of the box right of centre. Lee Cook took the set piece - he feigned to chip it to the back post and then sent a curling effort an inch wide of the top corner with the keeper beaten. WBA: Zuberbuhler 5, Watson 6, Perry 5, Davies 4, Greening 8, Ellington 7 (Phillips 72, 7), Gera 8, Albrechtsen 8, Kamara 9, Koumas 8, Wallwork 7 (Hartson 85, -) Subs not used: Chaplow, McShane, Hoult Scorers: Ellington 8, Kamara 40, Kamara 54 Rangers: Royce 8, Bignot 7, Rehman 4, Gallen 6, Ainsworth 5, Lomas 6, Cook 7, Stewart 7, Blackstock 6 (Nygaard 62, 6), Smith 6, Mancienne 6 Subs not used: Milanese, Ward, Rowlands, Jones Bookings: Smith, Lomas, Bignot Scorers: Stewart 45, Gallen 47, Nygaard 77 Referee: Lee Mason 5 (Lancashire) Did a half decent job overall but there were four terrible decisions in the second half that really stuck out. Lomas and Gallen were both penalised for winning the ball, Lee Cook was denied a run on goal by his lack of advantage rule knowledge and then to make up for that he gave QPR a free kick on the edge of the area for nothing. Also booked Jimmy Smith very harshly. Ably assisted by the young linesman from the Colchester game - there's always lots of very bizarre flag waving when he's around and last night was no exception, much to the home fans' disgust! Prior to that Mason refereed a 3-1 home defeat by Ipswich in Gary Waddock’s time in charge that featured no cards, but a very debatable penalty being awarded to the Tractor Boys. He was also in charge for a 2-1 defeat at the City Ground against Nottingham Forest in 2004 and a 3-3 draw at Rushden and Diamonds when Gareth Ainsworth scored one of the QPR goals of all time and a staggering eight yellow cards were shown. Mason angered Neil Warnock last season when he failed to act against Jody Craddock who appeared to elbow Alan Lee and cause a deep cut to his head in an FA Cup replay between Palace and Wolves. Palace won 3-1 thanks to an unlikely hat trick from Danny Butterfield. StatsMason has always been rather card happy, and his hefty total of 111 bookings and five reds across 28 appointments this season avaergaes out at about four cards a match. He showed eight when Arsenal beat Everton 2-1 earlier this season, and nine when Chelsea drew 3-3 against Aston Villa. At Christmas he incurred the wrath of Alex Ferguson after allowing late Birmingham equaliser against United at St Andrews, and last week he missed a blatant Blackpool penalty appeal in a home game against Arsenal. This i just his fourth Championship appointment of the season and second this callender year, he was in charge of Swansea's recent 1-1 home draw with Watford.Last season he showed 106 yellows (3.02 a game) and seven reds in 35 games, the majority of which came in the Premiership. His highest total in a single match was seven yellows and a red in a bad tempered game between Birmingham and West Ham. Other listingsChampionship >>> It's another Championship appointment for Premiership official Mark Clattenburg at Leicester v Forest while Anthony Bates, who was graded at 1/10 by LFW against Barnsley last week, has Scunthorpe v Coventry. Andy D'Urso has Sheff Utd v Bristol City.League Two >>> Regular QPR foe Trevor Kettle has Bury v Lincoln on Friday. Monday >>> Colin Webster takes our home match with Hull, more on him on Sunday night. Probably quite late on Sunday night! Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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