They had wanted to demonstrate to everyone that they could put on a show. Off the pitch they certainly managed that. Prior to kick-off, it ran like clockwork for the staff of BSC Glasgow. The exchange of mutually complimentary tweets between both clubs and sponsors afterwards and the handshakes across corridors inside Recreation Park bore testament to the work that Lowland League club had done in staging this match. The one remaining question was how they would fare on the pitch against Hibernian.

Admirably was the answer, even if the compact shape that BSC manager Stephen Swift had been so careful to nail down in the build-up to the game came undone relatively early on despite a promising start. Nevertheless, on a day feeling the chill wind of Storm Ciara, BSC attempted to make like as difficult as they could to curtail Hibernian, something Jack Ross, the Easter Road side's manager, acknowledged.

“It was a difficult tie for a number of reasons and we are pleased to be here [the sixth round]," he said. "You don't have any divine right to win any football match, it takes effort and commitment and quality and we did eventually show that. But when you look at the conditions, and I watched the games yesterday, and saw how difficult they were, we knew that would be the case again today and it was like that. As the game progressed it did become borderline farcical.”

There may have been some slapstick moments but this was never in danger of becoming the cup upset that the BBC cameras had turned up hoping to capture; that said it wasn't exactly plain sailing either. Hibernian were in front after 11 minutes when Marc McNulty latched on to Martin Boyle's through ball from the right flank and slid it through Ryan Marshall's legs for the opener. After half-an hour it was 2-0 when McNulty again finished smartly this time from a cross by Greg Docherty.

And that seemed to be that. Mysteriously, though, it wasn't. What appeared to be the killer blow served as an anaesthetic to Hibernian's ambitions. The Edinburgh side slipped out of gear and in doing so allowed BSC back into the game. When Ross Smith spun off the back of the pack from a Declan Hughes' free kick on the Hibernian left, he did so alone and found himself with the relatively straightforward task of looping the ball over Ofir Marciano to half the deficit.

Had Marciano not earlier saved very smartly from a Thomas Orr shot after a neat pirouette it might have been an equaliser that Smith was scoring. Not that Hibs didn't have their chances to be out of sight by half-time, mind you. Notably when McNulty perhaps should have completed his hat trick only for Marshall to produce a magnificent starfish save.

Smith's goal sparked scenes of delirium among the BSC supporters. Swift's teenage daughter Keira was so overcome with emotion that she burst into tears, barely knowing where to turn to in the aftermath.

Following the interval it was time for another Ciara to announce herself. The storm which claimed the English Premier League game between Manchester City and West Ham yesterday had its say in this Scottish Cup tie, too. The wind seemed to change direction frequently on a whim during the second half causing consternation for both sides. It was certainly a leveller and almost a game changer as BSC led by Hughes' calm prompting forced themselves forward. Marciano had to save with his feet 20 yards from his goal to deny Robbie McNab after a slack back pass by Paul Hanlon, the same Hibs defender survived a penalty shout for a barge on Orr and then Thomas Collins, BSC's leading goalscorer this season, scuffed wide with only the Israeli to beat after a fine, flowing move instigated by Martin Grehan and Jamie McCormack. It was the kind of chance Collins has been gobbling up all season in the Lowland League.

And, all of sudden, that was that from BSC. The wind almost died out as a factor completely, legs tired and Docherty started to pull the strings as Hibs' extra bit of quality began to show. When McNab ran into a dead end occupied by Hibs players, the on-loan Rangers midfielder picked his pocket and sent a glorious ball over the heads of Smith and Ross McMillan in the BSC rearguard. The pass landed perfectly in stride for McNulty and he made no mistake with an authoritative finish past Marshall to claim his third with 20 minutes remaining.

One wag in the BSC end urged his team on, shouting: “We'll take a draw BSC.”

It was a self-deprecating observation that the game was up. Docherty then scored the goal he deserved five minutes from time following some incisive interplay between Docherty and substitute Jamie Gullan before McNulty returned the favour to Docherty by sliding the ball across the penalty area to give him the simplest of finishes.

If that goal was a touch harsh on BSC, they still walked away with the best they could realistically have hoped for – a windfall of £100,000 towards the cost of a home in Glasgow – minus the cost of two balls that Hibernian defenders cleared the whole way out of Recreation Park and the one McNulty pockled following his hat trick.

“We're wanting it back,” joked Swift. “We only had four balls and they've lost two by kicking them out of the stadium. Maybe we're all right now but before we'd definitely have been sending a bill in.

“There's no secret that we want to move back to Glasgow and as much as Alloa have been brilliant here and it's a great professional set up we need to be ambitious in where the club is going to go from here and the bottom line is these finances should help towards that.”