The Reds secured their first ever victory over the Lions at Suncorp Stadium when they beat the Lions 34-20 with a bonus point on Saturday.
The Reds had not beaten the Lions in Brisbane since 2005 when the Reds still played their Super Rugby matches at Ballymore.
The match was also Quade Cooper's first Super Rugby match of the season although he was eased back in and only played until half time after which he resumed tweeting on his Twitter account from the bench.
The game was no spectacle for rugby fans but the Queenslanders ticked all of their boxes in the match as they secured a bonus point victory and gave Cooper a run which he came through without further problem.
The result cuts the Reds gap behind the Australian Conference leaders the Brumbies to 7 points and they get a chance to cut the lead further next week as they travel to Canberra to face the Brumbies.
The loss for the Lions was their 10th straight loss for the season as they beat the Cheetahs in Round One but have lost all 10 of their subsequent matches.
The bottom-placed Lions began well and led 6-0 after two Elton Jantjies penalties, before the Reds took control to score the next 34 points and had the luxury of taking off key players early.
"It's a huge game for us against the Brumbies and we're very excited about going down there and getting the result we are looking for," Reds skipper James Horwill said.
Horwill said the Reds lost their way a bit as the Lions hit back with two tries in the final 20 minutes, but were still well beaten.
"We went away from field position and holding on to the ball and we knew the Lions hold on to the ball for a long time and they are a very willing side, so we knew they wouldn't go down without a fight," he said.
"Quade showed some of his best moments and it's really good for us moving forward and hopefully he pulls up okay from the game."
The Reds' tries were scored by in-form open-side flanker Liam Gill, hooker Saia Faingaa, winger Chris Feauai-Sautia, in the opening minute of his Super Rugby debut off the bench, and Wallaby scrum-half Will Genia in a 60m runaway.
Mike Harris contributed 14 points from four conversions and two penalties.
Lions' skipper Josh Strauss said his team let themselves down in the middle stages of the game.
"That's the story of our season, we let ourselves down in the middle of that game, but then again great character from the guys to fight back and show a lot of pride," Strauss said.
"But we have to do that for 80 minutes."
The Lions play the Western Force in Perth next Saturday on the way home from their Australasian tour.
Final Score Reds 34 (13) Lions 20 (6)
Reds
Tries - L Gill ,S Faingaa ,C. F'Sautia, W Genia
Pen - M Harris 2
Con - M Harris 3
Drop -
Cards -
Lions
Tries - M. Bezuidenhout, J Kriel
Pen - E Jantjies 2
Con - E Jantjies 2
Drop -
Cards - Franco Van der Merwe (42nd minute Yellow)
Match Officials
Referee: Keith Brown
Assistant Ref 1:Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 2:Damien Mitchelmore
TMO : Steve Leszczynski
Teams
Reds
1. Greg Holmes,2. Saia Faingaa,3. James Slipper,4. Rob Simmons,5. James Horwill (c),6. Jake Schatz,7. Liam Gill,8. Scott Higginbotham,9. Will Genia,10. Quade Cooper,11. Digby Ioane,12. Mike Harris,13. Anthony Faingaa,14. Dom Shipperley,15. Ben Lucas,
Replacements : 16. James Hanson,17. Ben Daley,18. Adam Wallace-Harrison,19. Eddie Quirk,20. Nick Frisby,21. Chris F'Sautia,22. Luke Morahan
Lions
15 Andries Coetzee , 14 Deon Van Rensburg , 13 Lionel Mapoe , 12 Jaco Taute , 11 Michael Killian , 10 Elton Jantjies , 9 Ross Cronje , 8 Joshua Strauss (c) , 7 Grant Hattingh , 6 Derick Minnie , 5 Ruan Botha , 4 Franco Van der Merwe , 3 Patric Cilliers , 2 Callie Visagie , 1 JC Janse van Rensburg
Replacements : 16 Martin Bezuidenhout , 17 CJ Van der Linde , 18 Cobus Grobbelaar , 19 Jaco Kriel , 20 Tian Meyer , 21 Ruan Combrinck , 22 James Kamana
