AH, the romance of the cup. Fans louping the fences, drunken rammies in the ‘posh’ seats in the stand, a few belting goals and a fine night had by all. Ok, that may not be the traditional recipe for a Scottish Cup classic, but it was all good fun nonetheless.

There would be no giant-killing at the Indodrill Stadium as Celtic saw off Alloa via a late scare to progress to the fifth round, with the rather less salubrious surroundings than the visitors may have been used to ultimately failing to spook them.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou had gone with a strong line-up, giving Yosuke Ideguchi his first start for the club at the heart of the midfield. He also included both Daizen Maeda and Giorgos Giakoumakis in his attack, with the Greek striker through the middle, Maeda supporting from the left and Liel Abada on the right. Two of the three would get on the scoresheet, with the hitherto injury-hit Giakoumakis grabbing a well-taken opener early on and Abada seeming to settle the game with a beauty just before the interval.

A late Connor Sammon goal for the hosts though would make the outcome a live issue once more, and ultimately gave Barry Ferguson’s men some reward for the endeavour they showed throughout.

In truth though, as game as the League One part-timers were, the result was never really in too much jeopardy.

It was hardly vintage stuff from Celtic, mind, but on a positive note, Ideguchi looked tidy enough in the middle of the park, and barring injury concerns over him, Callum McGregor and Abada, they emerged relatively unscathed.

Beyond the very early and the very late knockings, there was never much hint of an upset being on the cards, but if the visitors needed reminding that they would be made to battle, they got one as the impressive Mouhamed Niang robbed the dithering Anthony Ralston, and with Joe Hart miles out of his goal, the ball fell to Connor Sammon. The big striker had a go from 40-odd yards, but couldn’t get the ball down in time and it floated harmlessly over.

Celtic took a little bit of time to settle, but the early goal they craved duly arrived. Liam Scales got the ball wide on the left and whipped a peach of a cross into the area, where Giakoumakis got across the near post well and volleyed home with a lovely side-foot finish.

That was all too much for some of the locals in hospitality in front of the press row, who took exception to some over-exuberant celebrations from the visiting fans in suits situated just in front of them. Copious finger-pointing, spittle-flecked bawling and shouting and a lengthy bout of ‘haud me back’ ensued, temporarily obscuring the view of your correspondent. So if anything happened before Giakoumakis next had an opportunity, my apologies.

He could and probably should have had his second goal, getting in behind the Alloa defence and in on David Hutton, but with a defender pulling at his jersey and the ball slightly under his feet, he could only dink the ball over the keeper and agonisingly wide of the right-hand post.

The home keeper was called into action soon after as Maeda got free on the left and hit a powerful half volley that Hutton did well to palm away, but it wasn’t all one-way traffic.

A long ball over the top undid the Celtic defence all too easily, presenting another chance to Sammon. This time, the forward got a volley away across goal that Hart had to divert smartly with his knee.

There was concern for Celtic as captain McGregor took a dull one on the side of the head as Alloa’s Adam King contested a high ball with the visiting skipper, and he was duly forced from the action looking a little unsteady on his feet after a lengthy delay. James McCarthy was the man brought on in his stead.

It didn’t knock Celtic out of their stride though, and they were soon two ahead. This time it was Abada, picking up the ball on the right from Ralston after a period of patient possession. His approach was a little more direct, drifting in off the flank and curling a beauty into the opposite corner to seemingly kill the contest just before the interval.

At that stage, the only apparent live issue for Celtic was getting out of town without any further casualties, but Abada went down with a foot problem just after the restart to add to manager Postecoglou’s concerns. Jota, fresh off the treatment table himself, came on a little sooner than was perhaps planned – and was duly clattered by Scott Taggart. No lasting damage was done, though.

Jota showed why Taggart was keen to keep close tabs on him soon after, whipping in a brilliant ball that Maeda glanced on towards goal and off the base of Hutton’s post.

There would be a further injury to furrow Postecoglou’s brow soon after though, as Niang went through Ideguchi and forced him to be substituted too. The wholehearted approach of the young Partick Thistle loanee drove Hart from the Celtic goal, with the keeper offering him a few words, presumably about keeping his enthusiasm in check.

The similarly enthusiastic Maeda – who was channelling it rather more constructively - should have scored when played in by a lovely Tom Rogic pass, but having take a touch to steady himself when clear on Hutton he somehow fired wide of the target. It was a decent showing from the attacker overall though, building upon his goalscoring debut against Hibernian on Monday night.

Celtic were punished for their failure to kill the tie beyond all doubt as the hosts grabbed an unlikely goal 15 minutes from time, as Taggart put the ball across goal and Sammon was on hand to roll back the years by bundling home at the back post.

That made things interesting, and there was a late opportunity for substitute Alan Trouten as the ball fell for him at the edge of the box. The home fans held their breath, the forward steadied himself, and the ball went flying towards the KFC behind the stand.

It was well over, and Alloa were out, but they can be proud of their efforts. Celtic may not be so proud of their own, even with the satisfaction of making it into the next round.