>Did I get lucky or did it really work?

Probably both.

Personally, I find drifting more of a problem when moving nucs a half-mile from the home yard that when I keep them in the same yard.

On my site, I outline how to do side-by-side splits and other home yard splits and how to adjust the number of bees going into hives if the distribution does not appear even, by leaning up a lid, pulling a hive back or doing some other trick to change the appearance of the yard and to divert traffic.

Some grass thrown onto or stuffed into the doorstep or other tricks can work, but if there is a strong flow on, I am not sure they will work.  One has to try, then observe.  If the bees seems to fly equally from all hives, then the yard will probably not suffer too much from uneven populations. 

Also, if the splits are in the home yard, either beside or on top of other hives, a check a few hours or days later permits making adjustments by swapping hives or hiding entrances, as long as queens are known not to be flying yet.

regardless, usually some hives will have to be moved out, but that can sometimes be planned to coincide with a cool spell or a period of rain.  Otherwise, the 2-mile rule applies unless there is an intent to have some bees return to boost the home yard for production purposes.

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