After dominating the early stages of the first quarter, it was a late goal by Tarkyn Lockyer that saved the Magpies' blushes after Collingwood had 10 more scoring shots than their Melbourne counterparts.
However, the two premiership points may have come at a cost for the Pies, with captain Nick Maxwell having scans tomorrow after injuring his calf in the second quarter.
“When you dominate a first quarter and you end up two goals in front, you’re in bother,” Malthouse said after the Pies had 12 scoring shots to five in the opening term
“I reckon we were lucky to get out of it - I just thought they were cleaner.”
The Magpies were poor in front of goal, kicking 9.22 for the match, including a paltry 1.9 in the third term as they failed to capitalise on their dominance.
“I half-suspected midway through the third quarter when we had opportunities to score, we didn’t lock it in, we didn’t really take the opportunities that existed,” Malthouse said.
“We just didn’t lose it because we kicked poorly. We lost it because we didn’t defend properly, we lost stoppages that we shouldn’t have … a whole host of reasons we lost two points.”
Malthouse said he felt the momentum shift in the third quarter, as the Dees rose to the occasion and fought back to be within five points heading into the final change.
“This is their big day. This is their mother of all games. If we’re not on song, then the momentum builds. That was I was worried about midway through the third quarter,” he admitted
Malthouse paid tribute to the "outstanding" performance of live-wire forward Brad Dick, who replaced Alan Didak (hip) in the selected side and booted four goals.
Dick had played in the VFL on Saturday, and kicked two goals before getting the call-up on Monday morning.
“[It was] a great effort,” he said.
“He has come off a reconstructed shoulder; that’s why he hasn’t been playing. He needed a few games under his belt. He will now force himself on the selectors to pick him.”
Malthouse refused to speculate on the availability of Didak, Luke Ball (groin) and Ben Johnson (ankle) for Collingwood's clash against the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium in two weeks’ time.
