Mason and his men come through Stamford Bridge test unscathed

By Graham Poll for the Daily Mail

Published: 21:28 EDT, 31 October 2012 | Updated: 21:29 EDT, 31 October 2012

The game went as smoothly as Lee Mason could have wanted and that is largely down to the exemplary attitude of both sets of players.

Apart from one show of petulance late on from Ryan Bertrand and some handbags between Nani and Oscar, everyone was well behaved and clearly heeded the advice from their clubs. 

Quiet evening: All things considered, the game went well for Lee Mason

It was eight minutes before Mason had to blow for a free kick. He was also helped by his assistants getting the big decisions right, in stark contrast to Mark Clattenburg on Sunday.

John Brooks correctly awarded Chelsea their first penalty for Alex Buttner’s foul on Victor Moses and Jake Collin got the night’s big decision correct, seeing that Gary Cahill’s header had crossed the line. 

Tripped: Alexander Buttner clips Victor Moses for penalty No 1

If you have good assistants, it makes a huge difference.

Mason’s movement and positioning were poor but fans and players just want the big decisions to be right — and they were.