He felt the hosts got involved with match officials more than they did and that was the difference.
"We try to stay away from that because we've been involved before. There were some big decisions there, you know, but I think the ref's done well overall in managing to keep hold of the game."
Veteran Paul Ifill was the difference with vision and composure that only comes with experience at the top level.
"Paul Ifill keeps coming back every year and keeps improving doesn't he? I think the fitness is still just about there and I'm sure it'll drop off but he just keeps scoring these goals," said Mason-Smith of the former Wellington Phoenix and Millwall player who not only scored two goals but also made passes for others to find the net.
Wairarapa midfielder Corey Chettleburgh was fortunate not to receive a yellow card from referee Martin Roil in the 17th minute after an expletive outburst when pinged for fouling Blues vice-captain Joshua Stevenson.
Blues striker Angus Kilkolly picked up a yellow card in the 29th minute for a second late challenge on Wairarapa goalkeeper Coey Turipa.
In the 35th minute, the visitors came close to breaking the deadlock after Blues goalkeeper Ruben Parker Hanks saved Mason-Smith's drive at goal but lost the ball.
As Mason Smith and two Rovers defenders advanced towards the spill, ref's assistant, Andy Parker, enigmatically raised his flag but lowered it as Hanks pounced to regather.
A minute later, Kilkolly flirted with an early shower with a double-footed challenge inside the 18m box but referee Roil just gave him a verbal warning.
In the 42nd minute, Hanks parried Ifill's worm burner in what was a concerted two-minute raid at the Blues goalmouth.
But the linchpin wasn't to be denied on the stroke of halftime when Rovers rightback Charlie Yexley inexplicably shoved him from behind inside the 18m box as a cross was put in from the right flank.
Ifill, who was remonstrating another offside flag on him minutes earlier, sent Hanks diving the wrong way from the penalty kick for a 1-0 lead.
The hosts looked ruffled early when play resumed with silly unwarranted offences putting referee Roil at risk of repetitive injury from raising his arm to caution players.
But all that changed when Yexley took a high, long throw in the 58th minute to find Kilkolly who deftly nodded it a metre sideways to Stevenson to chest it down and volley it into the net, 1-1, with keeper Turipa having no chance at all.
But that joy was short lived when Ifill, two minutes later, pounced on a long ball on the right flank that Rovers defenders had failed to clear. The veteran swivelled, turned towards the goalmouth and, from an acute angle, curled it into the net to regain the lead, 2-1.
But the green machine weren't done. This time Ifill became provider in the 69th minute, flicking a ball on the left flank through to Swedish striker Ermal Hajdari to run down towards the goal line before slipping the ball into a gaping net from the narrowest of angles for a 3-1 lead.
It was Rovers captain Fergus Neil and his men's turn to respond. They did in dramatic fashion.
Teenage midfielder Ross Willox made it 3-2 in the 72nd minute when he nodded in a free kick from Neil on the left of the 18m box.
The Blues faithful went wild four minutes later when Kilkolly headed in a well-timed cross on the far post from the left flank from Canadian import striker Jean-Michel Paulin to level terms, 3-3.
That ignited the clash as Ifill and then midfielder Callen Elliot collected yellow cards amid boos and jeers from the parochial fans.
It looked like Willox had clinched the winner in the 85th minute, after making good a surging run from Yexley but a despairing dive from Turipa saw the keeper tip the ball just outside the left upright.
Ifill then had the opportunity to seal the fourth-round cup berth a minute later but his finish, with just Hanks to beat, was uncharacteristically feeble.
After three minutes of added time, the sides reloaded for 30 minutes of extra time of play.
Wairarapa stunned the home crowd into silence just two minutes from play resuming when Ifill beat the offside trap on the right flank to crisply find danger man Hajdari, who Keinzley signed up from Tasman, stroll into net with the ball at the far post.
A few more ooh moments followed as Ifill mesmerised with silky touches although defender Alex Cox had a one-on-one about 5m in front of the goalmouth with Hanks but limply pushed to the keeper.
However, substitute midfielder Seuele Soroman crushed Blues' spirit with a casual header on the far post after Mason-Smith, bobbing and weaving in the box and unsuccessfully appealing a hand-ball penalty kick, had dexterously chipped the ball into play from goal line for a 5-3 lead.
Signs of desperation crept into the game with substitute midfielder Jorge Akers, in for injured Neil, collecting a yellow card for abusive language a minute before the 15-minute mark for the teams to swap sides.
Yexley came close to pulling one back but Turipa again got his fingertips to the ball which clipped the right upright and was cleared out of harm's way.
But the writing was on the wall when substitute Akers huffed and puffed his way for an early shower following a dumb late challenge on Ifill.
Ifill soon after reminded the Rovers of the mountain they had to climb when he beat two defenders in the box to clip the near upright.
With three minutes of extra time to go, Kilkolly spun his magic with three touches to roll the ball past Turipa to pull it back to 5-4.
By then the clock had done its dash in the knockout count.
