Carlton Palmer offers view on controversial moments in Barnsley v Sheffield Wednesday play-off final | OneFootball

The 2022-23 EFL season finally came to a close on Monday afternoon at Wembley when Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday contested the League One play-off final for a spot in the Championship.

And in the end, it went all the way to the final minutes of extra time as a Josh Windass header ended the Owls' two years of misery in the third tier of English football to send them back to where they had spent the previous nine seasons, breaking Barnsley hearts in the process.

FootballLeagueWorld VIDEO OF THE DAY

The match though was shrouded in controversy for two major talking points that occurred very early on in the second half following the half-time interval.

What controversial moments happened in Barnsley v Sheffield Wednesday?

With the scoreline at 0-0 just a couple of minutes into the second half, Barnsley should have potentially been awarded a penalty when both Tykes defender Liam Kitching and Wednesday striker Lee Gregory went for a bouncing ball in the box - one which Kitching got his foot to first - but Gregory's swing of the leg caught the opposition man heavily on the ankle.

Referee Tim Robinson waved this away though and VAR could not see a reason to overturn his on-field decision, and then just moments later Gregory went into another 50/50, this time in the middle of the pitch with Adam Phillips, who was second to the ball with one of his feet going over the sliding Gregory.

Robinson this time however saw fit to dismiss Phillips for dangerous play, leaving Barnsley with a man disadvantage for the rest of the contest.

What has Carlton Palmer said on the controversial decisions in Barnsley v Sheffield Wednesday?

A self-confessed Wednesday supporter having spent nine years as a player at Hillsborough, Carlton Palmer has expressed his thoughts on the major talking points from the contest, and believes that the wrong decision was made with the penalty that wasn't but Phillips was deserving of his red card.

"There were two controversial decisions, the first one was the penalty - Kitching caught by Gregory in the box - for me, it's a penalty, no arguments," Palmer told Football League World.

"But, this decision did go to VAR and was not given - wrongly in my opinion.

"The second one was the sending off of Phillips for the challenge on Gregory - now maybe this was a bit of retribution that the penalty was not given against Gregory earlier, but for me it's a stonewall red card. "He lunges and jumps both feet off the ground. It's a needless challenge on the halfway line and he gives the referee a decision to make, which he didn't need to do.