The Lions again called on dogged defence and a marauding maul as they won their third consecutive match on Welsh soil on Friday.
They won their final league match last season away to the Dragons, downed the Ospreys in their back yard last week and on Friday night they defeated Cardiff 31-18 in Cardiff.
Behind a pack showing grunt and purpose backs Gianni Lombard, Andries Coetzee, Marius Louw and Henco van Wyk excelled, especially in the second half.
First, however, the visitors were required to defend with great resilience in the first half as Cardiff dominated territory and possession. The hosts often made line breaks but the Lions we able to scramble and deny a home team firmly in the ascendancy.
Wave after wave of Cardiff attack was repelled by the Lions and it was only late in the first half that the visitors relented.
The home side banged over two penalties before Lombard opened the Lions' scoring with a penalty of his own.
Cardiff however finally got reward for their persistence just before the break but that seemed to spark the Lions into action.
They marched up field and after a penalty that was kicked to the corner flag they deployed their maul that resulted in a penalty try.
That they were just three points behind was testament to their superb defence and with a foot in the door they started the second half with renewed vigour.
Bone rattling commitment in midfield from Louw and Van Wyk helped the Lions boss the collisions in the second as they not only wiped out the deficit but established a healthy lead.
They turned it around in the second as the toil of their forwards started to take its toll..
With Cardiff back pedalling the Lions made a decisive score in the 63rd minute when scrumhalf Morne van den Berg pounced on a loose ball that emerged from a ruck and crashed over for a converted try.
Cardiff hit back with a try of their own but they were a beaten side as they lost resolve and abandoned belief in the closing minutes.
Scorers
Cardiff (18) - Tries: James Botham, Shane Lewis-Hughes. Conversion: Jarrod Evans. Penalties: Evans (2).
Lions (31) - Tries: a penalty try, PJ Botha, Morne van den Berg, Quan Horn. Conversions: Gianni Lombard (3). Penalty: Lombard.
