The Tigers were denied a second penalty when Belloumi went down inside the box

The ref watch panel clashed over the decision not to award Hull City a second penalty in their 1-1 draw with Brentford at the MKM Stadium on Sunday.

Belloumi was clipped from behind by Mamadou Sangare just after the hour, and only moments before the Bees dragged themselves level through Dango Ouattara.

The Algerian winger forced his way into the box before being clipped by the midfielder, with referee Rob Jones waving away the protests, while the Premier League's match centre checked and cleared the incident, before saying: "The referee’s call of no penalty to Hull was checked and confirmed by VAR – with the contact from Sangaré on Belloumi deemed to be minimal. VAR: “There's some small contact, but he steps across him, and he is as much responsible for creating that contact."

Former top-flight referee Dermot Gallagher suggested it was a 'coming together', a statement ex-Arsenal man Jay Bothroyd vehemently disagreed with. Tim Sherwood, the ex-Spurs midfielder, also backed Bothroyd, suggesting it should have been what would have been a second spot kick.

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"I don't think so," Gallagher told Sky Sports when asked if it was a clear and obvious error from Jones.

"I think it's one of those that the referee makes his choice on the field. It's a tangle of legs at the end, isn't it? Gets a little touch on the back of his calf, but it's one of them if the referee doesn't give a penalty, I don't think the VAR's ever going to step in and say we need to go and have a look."

Here's how the exchange continued....

DG: "I don't think it was a penalty."

JB: "You don't think that's a penalty, why?"

DG: "No, I just don't think there's enough contact."

JB: "You don't think there's enough contact. He (Sangare) didn't touch the ball."

DG: "I don't think it's enough contact."

JB: "But has he touched the ball?"

DG: "I don't think it's enough contact."

JB: "I know, but has he touched the football?"

DG: "You've asked me a question. I've answered you three times. I don't think there's enough contact for a penalty."

JB: "He hasn't touched the ball."

DG: "There's a higher threshold for foul play. It's what we were told. I think the referee makes his choice."

JB: "Derms, if that happens in the middle of a pitch and you don't touch the ball, you're given a free kick there. Whether there's enough (contact), he's made contact with the player and not made contact with the ball. I don't know what a foul is. I thought that was the definition of a foul. If you kick a player and you don't touch the ball. I thought that was a foul. Maybe the game's changed that much that I don't know football no more. That's not a coming together.

"Listen, you've gone in the box, you tell your players, Tim (Sherwood) will tell his players to run across a striker, I've run across a defender, then the defender has to get out of the way, otherwise things like that happen. That is a penalty all day, every day of the week. There is no doubt about that.

"He's not even touched the ball. That's enough contact for me. I'm watching that. I'm saying that's more than enough contact to be given a penalty. That's a penalty all day."

TS: "When the striker spins it off his left foot, he sees Sangare coming to the right. He knows he's in a cul-de-sac. He can't do anything with it. All he can do is slow up the play and hope for the contact. He initiates the contact, and the contact's obliged. It should be a penalty."

All three, however, agreed that the challenge on Regan Slater in the first half was not worthy of a penalty, instead suggesting the Tigers midfielder should have been stronger. While there was broad agreement that Aaron Hickey's foul on Tim Iroegbunam was a penalty, they believed it should not have been a spot-kick because Oli McBurnie was on the line of the 18-yard box, and therefore, was encroaching.

Gallagher's reasoning for Hickey being given a yellow card and not red, which was checked by VAR, was that the Brentford man made a genuine attempt to win the ball.