(Bottesford won 4-1 after extra time and penalties)
COLTS started this League Cup tie in an upbeat fashion with a slightly rearranged line up in light of Harry Scott's recent departure to Scunthorpe.
This saw Tuplin run out on the tricky left w
ing and Ogley start up front with the versatile Sterling filling in at the back until the imminent arrival of Will Harvey next week.
The early signs were good for the visitors with Epworth coping well with the frenetic pace forced by Bottesford and Johnson mopping up well between the sticks, providing some fantastic distribution giving Colts' more useful attacking options.
It was touch and go whether Saturday's tie would still be on, with the ground still being hard in places on arrival but it did loosen up as kick off approached.
These conditions made the ball bouncing much more aggressively, making players judgement of play considerably more difficult.
Epworth's midfield duo of Kelly and Hunt tried their best to cope with the erratic ball and kept play on the deck as much as possible using the advancing wide men Hill and Tuplin to push up the flanks and feed the frustrated Ogley who was busying himself back in a familiar striking role against the useful Bottesford back four.
Bottesford looked quite competent in attack also; forcing Beevers to put in several meaty tackles and marshal his defensive line of Sterling, Young and Moore who were equally committed alongside their determined captain.
It was going to take something special to break Colt's down and this is what Bottesford produced with a cracking cross goal shot to take the lead and leave their old rivals playing catch up in this high tempo cup tie.
The visitors had perhaps been slightly on the back foot in the lead up to the opener but their determination saw them have some fruity chances of their own with Nicholson, now on the right, linking up well with Maw who was now leading the attack with Ogley returning to Colt's back line to bolster their defence.
The busy Maw finally bagged the equaliser for Colts, running onto a lovely defence splitting ball and cleverly dinking it over the advancing home stopper. It was no more than the visitors deserved with a stalwart display worthy of at least a share of the spoils.
Sadly for Epworth this was not to be as there had to be a result in this league cup tie and as extra time came and went, neither side were able to edge the other out.
The lottery that is penalties saw Epworth finally lose out to the host's in the shoot out and allowed Bottesford to advance to the next round following a thriller of a match, in which both sides gave their all.
Man of the match was captain Stu Beevers.