It was a ‘mind-blowing’ spell in the game when Leyton Orient was awarded a penalty and the aftermath that came from it says head coach Ross Embleton.

The O's were awarded a penalty in the 83rd minute as Cobblers defender Scott Wharton handled the ball inside the box but was not booked for his offence.

Josh Wright then slotted the home to level the score at 1-1 but Wharton then wrestled the ball from the hands of Jordan Maguire-Drew which sparked a 17-man brawl which resulted in both Wharton and James Dayton being sent off.

"I don't think James Dayton particularly expected that, there were some mind-blowing things that happened in that instance for me.

"First of all the ball goes into the box and we win a penalty, if we win a penalty for handball it's a yellow card, the guy has punched it away from Jordan Maguire-Drew's head.

"The fourth official tells me it's because he's in the air that he hasn't been given a yellow card, punching the ball in the air or standing on your own two feet isn't anything to do with that situation.

"I think that was ridiculous and when I spoke to the referee at full-time about it, his answer was there was so much going on, that's a cop out as all the goings on happened after the penalty was taken.

"James Dayton then gets sent off, yet Vadaine Oliver who had been taken off by Northampton had run half the pitch to join in the melee and no one saw it, but yet they see Dayton do something that I didn't manage to see.

"A lot of that doesn't make a great deal of sense, but I'll be honest I wasn't in the greatest position to experience what was going on as I was too busy celebrating."

The boss also revealed he managed to keep himself calm about the whole situation until hearing what the referee had to say after the game.

"Keith Curle wanted his say, I wanted my say, but I was actually ok for one of the first times this season.

"I was pretty calm and even at full-time, it wasn't until I walked down the tunnel to ask the referee why he never sent the guy off that gave the penalty, that it then angered me a bit to try blame the melee which happened after we scored."