Warrior Park has not been a happy hunting ground for the Lions, who will hope for a change of fortune tonight

Olympia Warriors entertain Kingborough Lions United in the NPL Summer Cup at 7.30pm at Warrior Park today.

The Warriors won their opening game in the tournament last Friday when two goals by centre-forward Jack Ryan gave them a 2-1 win over Glenorchy Knights at KGV Park.

This will be the Warriors’ first home-game of the season at Warrior Park, which has not exactly been a happy hunting ground for the Lions in recent seasons.

Olympia have recruited well in the off-season but it may take a few games for them to settle on a regular line-up as new players gel with some of the old hands from last season.

Understanding still has to develop between, say, Ryan, and his attacking partner, Ben Hamlett, who was signed from South Hobart.

Olympia’s other newcomers such as Adam Gorrie and Loic Feral from South Hobart are experienced campaigners and won’t take long to fit into coach Andrew Brown’s tactical plans.

Left-winger Jackson Khasif played under Brown last season at Hobart United and he knows what Brown expects of him at his new club.

He was lightning fast for the opening quarter of an hour against the Knights but will have to pace himself to last the 90 minutes, although the smaller Warrior Park pitch should help in this regard.

Olympia’s new Japanese defender, Kazuma Kobayashi, came on as a substitute last week and did not really have time to show his abilities in defence.  He may get a longer run tonight.

Kingborough are an unknown quantity to me and the only thing I have to go on is their 2-1 loss to South Hobart in a pre-season friendly a few weeks ago.

Coach Jez Kenth is sure to field a competitive line-up against the Warriors, but much depends on the mind-set Kingborough take into this contest.

On paper, they usually look formidable, but they can tend to drop their heads when things are not going their way and throw games away that they could potentially win.

Olympia can stay top of the pile if they win this game, which is their second outing, but South Hobart and Clarence Zebras are waiting in the wings as they have yet to play.