Seems as though you made the best of a bad situation, congrats are still in order!
Still fighting the battle here, another day of cloudy/rainy weather and then hopefully some clearing. Just hoping the season extends for awhile before any frost arrives, could use another month! Shame, I had 2 dominant tops, but something broke one of them, oh well. Alot of leafhopper damage has resulted in a lollipopped shape now.