When Sibusiso Sithole went under the posts and Charl Janson added the extras with around 15 minutes left, Sandy Bay needed a bonus-point fourth try to claim their first title.
HKFC, aware that defeat by no more than six points was sufficient to prevent that, manned the barricades and reined in their attacking instincts, although Asplin “had not talked about the potential permutations to the whole group”.
“They are smart enough, and our leaders were aware of the different scenarios,” Asplin said.
Anticlimax swept over the ground at full-time, an audible and visible contrast to the frantic closing minutes.
“If anyone offered you silverware at the start of the year, you would take it,” Asplin said. “But I have a little bit of an empty feeling. It is pretty hard to win a league, but we lost three games on the bounce, and this group has not done that very often.
“We did not win this league today, we won it from the start of preseason, with the attitude we brought in.”
Sandy Bay twice led in the opening half, with tries from captain Lusanda Badiyana and Zean Augustyn, who drove over after sustained pressure with HKFC missing the sin-binned Ben Axten-Burrett.
Those scores sandwiched John McCormick-Houston touching down after a drive close to the line. Ben Smith went over in the corner for a try brilliantly converted by Glyn Hughes to level the scores.
A couple of Hughes penalties after the restart gave HKFC the upper hand, but Sithole set up the grandstand finish.
Marno Meyer, the Sandy Bay head coach, said: “I have mixed emotions. We said at the beginning of the season we wanted to compete for the league. We implemented certain values and themes … and the boys bought into them.”
Meyer pointed to a 17-17 draw with HKFC in November and January’s surprise defeat by DAC Kowloon as the fixtures when the title got away.
Asplin hopes to regain momentum for next weekend’s Grand Championship semi-finals between the top four. He viewed victories over HK Scottish before Christmas and over Valley with a depleted team February as pivotal moments.
“I am happy for the players,” Asplin said. “It is easy to get myself stuck in this, being my full-time job. But for these guys, it is a really small part of their being. They work five days a week, some are dads and husbands, so for them to enjoy it, and reap the rewards of what they have created, is pretty cool.”
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