Players risked red cards

IN such a toxic atmosphere, referee Lee Mason will have been aware that his actions could cause the crowd to explode and so, while you do your job in such situations, you need to allow more latitude in applying the law. Mark Noble thought Mason had shown ‘common sense’ in not sending him off after an aggressive confrontation with a witless pitch invader, and he was right. Technically of course he was taking a big risk as players cannot be allowed free rein to deal with pitch invaders. With Burnley’s Ashley Barnes lashing out at another pitch protestor it would be right for the FA to issue guidelines to all clubs about these incidents. However, red cards would have been inappropriate and Mason did extremely well.