Hi Mick, that report I read may have been wrong. Here's a post from someone who said that he saw the incident.
Re. The sendings off - I've never had such a clear view of an incident.
The two players went to ground and were a bit tangled up. What started off as them trying to get up, developed into a bit of a wrestling match and inevitably players from both sides got drawn in and a general 'kerfuffle' ensued. I think the Col U player grabbed Yates's neck at one point but other than that, nothing actually happened - no one got punched, kicked or injured, not even close. I couldn't believe it when they both got reds.
The ref should have just said to them both "Calm down lads, don't make me ruin the game by sending you both off"...and given them a yellow card each - job done. It was totally down to the linesman IMO who was desperate for his 5 minutes of fame (not that a first round League Cup tie in front of 1500 punters is going to make you very famous)
Pathetic officiating which showed zero common sense.