This was an occasion that followed a long-established Scottish Cup plot. Top-flight side visits basic, lower-league ground and the difference in skill is eradicated by the lesser-status side’s enthusiasm, but the bigger club still escapes with a narrow victory.

The visiting Premier League manager can then afford to be complimentary about his opponents while the lower-league manager insists his side were worth a draw. All of this happened at Alloa Athletic on Saturday but the detail involved in this version of the tale made it an engrossing, entertaining variation on the theme.

Aberdeen had hoped for rain to make Alloa’s artificial pitch slicker and more conducive to a passing game. They got rain, throughout, but this was of the horizontal, stinging-your-face variety, designed to work against a measured style of play. Even so, Aberdeen began the game in style, going a goal ahead when Lee Miller diverted Chris Maguire’s shot past Raymond Jellema, the Alloa goalkeeper, after nine minutes.

A second goal would have signalled a conclusion to the tie as a contest but when Aberdeen began slacking, their Irn-Bru Scottish League second division opponents eased their way into the game. “After the first 20 minutes,” Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, said, “for some reason we stopped playing. All credit to Alloa – they played very well.”

Alloa notched a deserved equaliser three minutes before half-time, through Andy Scott’s penalty; Steven Nicholls, the referee, adjudging that Miller had pulled Dougie Hill back by the shirt. Miller seemed eligible for a red card for attempting to prevent a clear goalscoring opportunity but he was not even shown a yellow.

That left Calderwood free at half-time to add thrust to his attack by replacing Jeffrey De Visscher, the midfield player, with Darren Mackie, the forward, and it was the latter’s flicked header that set up Sone Aluko to curl a shot round Jellema in the 57th minute for Aberdeen’s second goal.

“Alloa made it difficult for us,” Miller said. “I don’t think we were at the races. It was great for me to get on the scoresheet because I was disappointed with my own performance. My touch wasn’t in. A few of the boys didn’t play well but we stuck together and ground out a result.”

Allan Maitland, the Alloa manager, was magnanimous in defeat. “We played really well,” he said. “We had a lot of chances in the second half where the final pass wasn’t quite right but they took their chance in that half – so maybe that’s the difference.”

Alloa Athletic (3-4-2-1): R Jellema 7 – C Townsley 5, S Buist 6, D Hill 7 – D McClune 6, B Ferguson 7, J Grant 7 (sub: P Scullion, 72min), I Campbell 5 – D Wilson 7, K MacAulay 6 (sub: A Ferguson, 79) – A Scott 7. Substitutes not used: F Forrest, G Spence, M White. Booked: Campbell, McClune, Scullion, Townsley.

Aberdeen (4-3-3): J Langfield 6 – R Foster 6, A Diamond 5, S Severin 6, C Mulgrew 7 – J De Visscher 5 (sub: D Mackie, 46 6), G McDonald 4, M Kerr 5 – C Maguire 6, L Miller 5, S Aluko 7. Substitutes not used: L Mair, A Considine, M Paton, J Bateman. Booked: Foster, Severin.

Referee: S Nicholls. Attendance: 3,13