The gods must have scripted this one for it to pan the way it did.
For literally the rest of the season, they never looked like they were going to be the champions.
But Herentals Queens have, for years, shown they have the clout and the nerves.
They call themselves "Vagoni Vebasa," and they just confirmed they are when they did what they ought to do in the last four games of the season compressed inside a fortnight. And on Saturday, they inserted their signature block inside the Women Football League's royalty.
The Simba Dedza side needed to win against relegated Hope Academy away at Luveve to secure their third title in a row.
And they were never going to have any mercy on a crest-fallen team that were even unable to fulfil two of their previous three games building up to this fixture.
That meant Hope Academy were a bit on the negative side in terms of match fitness, and they were thoroughly exposed when shipping seven goals, with Maudy Mafuruse and Praynance Zvawanda getting a hattrick each and Elizabeth Bvunzawabaya scoring late to underline the misery.
But in reality Herentals Queens had done the rest of the work three days earlier when they gallantly fought back to pull away a point, that was worth its weight in gold, in a 1-1 draw against Correctional Queens.
Once two of their championship rivals Chapungu and Black Rhinos cancelled out each other in the equation, the former winning 2-1 in what proved to be a fatal blow for the latter, Dedza's girls popped up to fully maximize on the situation. With Rhinos dropping to second, Herentals needed only four points from the final two games. But those points were never going to be delivered while they were in bed.
Correctional Queens, who stopped both Black Rhinos and Chapungu were determined to derail Vagoni Vebasa.
They were almost done with them, but then their ultra-defensive approach, once they surged into the lead, backfired terribly as they conceded a penalty, which gave Herentals the point they badly needed with only 12 minutes on the clock.
Herentals celebrated wildly after putting Hope Academy to the cleaners, and it was understandable.
They never looked like retaining the championship as at some point in the race they were a good seven points behind both Rhinos and Chapungu, thanks to their participation in the CAF Women's Champions League COSAFA qualifiers in Malawi back in August.
Actually, they appeared to have been elbowed out of the contest when they lost 1-0 to the Rhinos, literally handing the advantage to the soldiers and Chapungu.
But once they got their groove back after their participation in Malawi, they were never going to be taken off the road.
They were so good in the home stretch, outclassing Chapungu to complete a double over them and crucially drew their second leg fixture against Black Rhinos.
And with just one defeat in the entire season, competitors were only going to underrate them at their own peril.
They steadily did their business, and with solid depth in their ranks, they reached Canaan on Saturday and picked their ticket back to the continent, becoming the first team from this country to compete at this stage twice.
It could actually have been their third journey to Africa, but what was supposed to be their maiden appearance was washed away by the FIFA ban on Zimbabwe in 2023.
That means they have now effectively neutralized Black Rhinos' monopoly of the league after the army side's dominance of the section for close to a decade.
And the ecstatic girls have a bounce in their steps after the remarkable success story.
"This has been a tough season, and we had literally surrendered everything to fate," said Zvawanda.
"The league is very competitive, with both Chapungu and Black Rhinos giving us all sorts of trouble.
"It could have gone any direction, but we remained focused and concentrated on what we could do as Herentals Queens.
"That's what we did, and here we are. Credit goes to our bosses, especially Wadzanai Loveness Mukura, for her leadership qualities.
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"It's a victory for all the students and everyone associated with Herentals Queens."
Captain Talent Mukwanda hailed the never-die attitude displayed by her teammates throughout the season.
"Look, at some point in the marathon, we looked well down and out of the race.
"But guess what? everyone had the belief. The discussions, at the training ground and elsewhere, always centred on the potential that was there," said Mukwanda.
"The mentality was amazing and it's a marvel to captain a team with players full of desire and positive attitude. It was a taxing race, but we kept our eyes on the prize."
Mukura, who is a favourite to land the ZIFA vice-president woman post, applauded the entire league for their competitive spirit which saw the champions being determined on the final day of the season.
She also played some part in the Herentals Queens success story as she is also a player.
