It’s not quite “glass half full” for Ross Lyon after St Kilda’s unblemished record for 2023 received its first mark at the hands of Collingwood, but the overall sentiment remains on the positive side following the Saints’ surprise fightback at Adelaide Oval.

Collingwood led by 26 points at the 18-minute mark of the third term and looked assured winners before three last-gasp goals from Jack Higgins, Ryan Byrnes and Brad Crouch sliced the margin to a goal with a minute left to play, turning the undefeated dream from a far-gone conclusion a possibility.

While Lyon praised his troops for rallying in inspiring fashion late, the Magpies’ scoreboard ascendancy – a by-product of their efficiency after the main break – and stable hand on the contest, save for the last few minutes, couldn’t be overlooked.

“I don’t think it’s really that simple, ‘glass half full, glass half empty,” Lyon said in his post-game press conference.

“We came here to employ our system and our effort against Collingwood and they’ve been up and about for a period time.

“I was really pleased, in particular the first half and the last period of the last quarter. I thought we fought on right to the end and that’s indisputable, but we lost our way.

“They pinned us in the latter of the second and then the third quarter. Their pressure was really good with a lot of smothered kicks, but I thought we weren’t as clean as we’d been in the clinches – and that’s perceived pressure and actual pressure – but we’ll take a lot out of it and learn.

Seasoned Saints Callum Wilkie (24 disposals, 14 rebound-50s, 11 marks), Seb Ross (26 disposals) and Brad Crouch (33 disposals, 10 inside-50s, nine clearances) all stood up throughout, with Crouch’s late major threatening to undo Collingwood’s hopes of taking the four points back to Victoria.

St Kilda ended up winning the clearance with 50 seconds left on the clock to the look of a bemused Lyon in the coaches’ box, with a handful half-chances ultimately falling the wrong way as the Magpies steeled late.

“We went to the end and I think it was Owens or Caminiti who launched. We would have stolen it, right? But that’s what you do sometimes in this business,” Lyon said.

“Collingwood had a habit of dong it (last year). We went through a mode where we were rolling the dice and took it on and we started to score.

“All credit to our players, they never gave up. There was a chase of Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera late of a forward who got out and he got a fingernail in, (which summed up how) we never gave up.”

The Saints are poised to regain captain Jack Steele from a collarbone injury and leader Tim Membrey in time for next week’s game against Carlton.

Membrey made a successful return via the VFL on Sunday afternoon – his first reserves outing since 2016 – to finish with seven touches and two marks in what were unfavourable conditions for a marking forward.

“We think we’ve got plenty of upside in us to be truthful,” Lyon said.

“We’ll get our skipper back next week, he’s our heartbeat. He’ll go head-to-head with (Patrick) Cripps I would imagine, so that’s pretty handy.”