DAPHNE, Ala. — The 1-1 tie at halftime came as no surprise Tuesday night at Jubilee Stadium in Daphne. And a two-goal margin of victory seemed improbable to many at a game that appeared headed for overtime and a shootout.

But the Fairhope Pirates raided the Trojans' home field for two unanswered goals in the second half for a 3-1, 6A Region 2 win.

Daphne lost it’s first match of the year to go 6-1 overall, 1-1 in region play while Fairhope improved to 8-2-1 and 3-0 in region play.

“We tried to play soccer tonight but it’s very hard on this field,” said FHS coach Paul Stroud. “That team (Daphne) plays very hard on this field and this field is very small. A consequence is at some point it gets very physical. But we met the challenge and I’m proud of that. At a certain point it becomes a struggle of wills. They have seven seniors and we only have five. It would have been real easy for this team to fold up the tent.”

Daphne coach Rick Andrew said his team played well at first attacking and defending but then appeared to flatten out after FHS scored first.

“Tonight they just beat us in the air and won the 50-50 war,” he said. “They are solid, they always come to play us. We played hard but probably not the best we can. At times may be a little complacent, but sometimes a winning streak can do that. Their players stepped up. We had a couple of miscues, but sometimes it takes adversity and a loss to find yourself. I challenged them to get back into the winning mode and fight for it.”

Welles Richardson scored the opening goal for Fairhope in the eighth minute on a long break away down the left side and in. Daphne's Levi Ehmka evened the score later on a short lob over the keeper with 4:14 left in the first half.

Richardson scored again from the left side but nailed the shot on the run before taking it inside to make it 2-1 with 30:19 left in regulation.

About nine minutes later Richardson placed a corner kick to Ross Henseler who headed the third goal in for the Pirates.

“Welles just plays hard and he is constantly moving even without the ball,” Andrew said. “I enjoy watching him play and coaching against him.”

The Pirates are at Baldwin County High next on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Daphne plays next at Satsuma Thursday at 7:30 p.m.