BRENTFORD should not have been awarded a penalty in their 2-0 victory over Cherries earlier this season, refereeing chief Howard Webb confirmed.

With the game locked at 0-0 at Gtech Community Stadium in January, the Bees were awarded a spot-kick when Ivan Toney went down under the challenge of Marcos Senesi.

That was despite protests from Cherries that Toney had in fact fouled Senesi.

Toney slotted away the penalty, before Mathias Jensen latter wrapped up the win.

Speaking to the Daily Echo about the decision by referee Jarred Gillett at the time, Cherries boss Gary O’Neil labelled it "scandalous", saying: “Ivan Toney has managed to lock Marcos’s arm underneath his and just drags him.

“How we are in a day and age with VAR and we still get that wrong I think is scandalous.

“I’ve spoken to the referee. I told him that I expect an apology, even though that doesn’t help me.

“I think when you get something that wrong, when it’s that important.

“Obviously he has some history as well from when we were last here in the play-off semi-final. I thought he was equally as bad this evening as he was then.”

He added: “When I watched it, I thought they are definitely overturning that. They’re definitely giving us a foul. And then you hear the usual noise that you hear at the moment when you’re a Bournemouth fan and there’s a VAR check. They are going to upstand the decision and they are going to give a penalty against you.

“I thought it was a terrible decision.”

Andre Marriner was video assistant referee on the day.

O’Neil said: “He (Gillett) should get some help from VAR as well.

“Live, I can understand why you would think that obviously there’s a coming together and you can see that Ivan Toney has gone over.

“Anyone can make a mistake at that moment. But then how we don’t reach the right conclusion with what we have available to us now is scandalous.”

For the first time, audio communication between the match officials from that game has been released in public, as part of Professional Game Match Officials Board chief refereeing officer Webb’s appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

Despite assistant referee Simon Long clearly stating he did not think it was a penalty, referee Gillett pointed to the spot.

VAR Marriner then checked the decision, stating there was “enough to support that” and the penalty was given.

Webb explained: “We see a foul by Ivan Toney on Senesi, just before Senesi puts his arm across Ivan Toney.

“It was checked by VAR, but this is an issue around process really, where the sequence the VAR looked it didn’t start early enough, didn’t quite show how that contact came to happen. It was already happening when he started to look at it.

“It was a matter of process rather than judgement on this one.”

Discussing the contact by Toney on Senesi, Webb added: “Ivan Toney locks in, traps his arm, off-balances the defender and this should have been penalised with a free-kick to Bournemouth.

“We’ve got to get it right as VAR. We’ve got this tool to see this. It’s clear, therefore we should step in.”

“VAR didn’t thoroughly analyse the full sequence that led to that contact between Toney and Senesi.

“If he had, then he would have seen this action by Toney, which would have led to the penalty being overturned and a free-kick given to Bournemouth, which unfortunately we didn’t get to.”

Pundit Gary Neville then put it to Webb that Cherries players on the pitch will have told Gillett about the initial foul by Toney and asked why that did not make a difference.

Webb, a former Premier League and international referee, said: “Good refereeing on the field would involve reading the genuine signs from players, the natural reactions from players can be important.

“Errors do happen. We’re dealing with human beings as VAR. We’re still learning.”