Ulster fought hard in terrible conditions in Belfast and emerged the winner of the contest after tries from James Hume, Jacob Stockdale and Rob Herring.
The Johannesburg based side, had come to Belfast with an upset on their minds. The Lions had taken a notable scalp against the Scarlets in their last match in the BKT URC and hoped that Ulster would be their next prey.
Dan McFarland made a host of changes to the Ulster side that defeated Munster last week, with home debuts for flanker, Reuben Crothers, and tighthead prop ,Scott Wilson. Ireland internationals Rob Herring and captain Iain Henderson made their first starts of the season after World Cup duty.
There was also a welcome return to the matchday 23 for tighthead prop, Marty Moore, who had been out since January with a long-term injury.
There was also a new face on the bench, as academy player, Lorcan McLoughlin, was named among the replacements.
The Lions were purring in the opening stages of the contest, and everytime Ulster had worked to clear their lines, mistakes allowed the away side back into it. That pressure turned into an early setback after a clearance was gathered by the speedy Edwill Van Der Merwe, who kept the ball alive and turned posession into pressure in the Ulster 22. The ball was worked wide and Richard Kriel was sent free from a Sanele Nohmaba kick, for an easy try on the right wing. Nohamba converted the try for an early 0-7 lead.
Ulster let out a sigh of relief around the 25 minute mark as Henco Van Wyk thought he had scored the away side's second try after pouncing on a loose ball, but the TMO check had ruled that a Lions player had knocked the ball forward.
Minutes later, the home crowd cheered as Scott Wilson, made a swashbuckling dash in the Lions 22, the young prop showing a clean set of heels to Lions defenders as he showed a bit of pace.
Ulster had shown glimpses of slick attacking moves as they hoped to get back into it and eventually it paid off, with centre, James Hume, showing good movement to dive over for his first of the season and the home side's first try of the night. Nathan Doak ensured the contest was back to level pegging.
Much to the home crowd's frustration, all that hard work to get back level was evaporated within minutes as the Lions swiftly attacked into Ulster's 22 and went in front again through their flanker, Sirgel, who squeezed through Ulster's defensive set.
Nohamba stuck away the conversion to send the away side into a half-time lead.
HT: Ulster 7-14 Emirates Lions
Ulster came out for the second half like men possessed and hunted the Lions down straight after the restart. Two minutes after the restart, quick ball from a maul was passed through the hands, and Stuart McCloskey fired it over to Jacob Stockdale, who gleefully raced over for his fifth try in four matches this season.
Doak nailed the difficult kick to level things for the second time.
Soon after a penalty allowed Nohamba to kick an extra three and send the away side into a narrow lead. That lead wasn't to last long, as Rob Herring scored off the back of a lineout maul, the hooker blazing over for the lead of the match.
Nathan made no mistake again and Ulster took a four point lead.
The second half had become a scrappy affair, with both sides playing the kick-chase game as it became so difficult to hold onto the wet ball.
Ulster fans were delighted to see Marty Moore return to the side and get stuck into the scrums as both sides battled for possession.
Another special moment was when back-rower, Lorcan McLoughlin, came on for his Ulster debut, replacing the impressive Reuben Crothers, on his home debut too.
John Cooney made his impact as a replacement, with the scrum-half extending Ulster's lead with a sweetly struck penalty to extend the lead to seven.
Rob Herring went close to grabbing the province's bonus try at the end, but the pressure didn't amount to a BP try.
With the Lions on the front foot towards the end of the match, Ulster dug in and grinded out the win.
The end of the match felt familiar in Kingspan Stadium, as grinding out the win with stubborn defensive play is what the fans have been used to seeing in the three home wins so far.
A gritty fourth win in five lifts Ulster to the summit of the BKT URC table, with 18 points after five matches played.
Ulster will aim to keep their momentum going against Glasgow Warriors next week at Scotstoun Stadium.
FT: 24-17
BKT Player of the Match - Dave Ewers
Ulster flanker Dave Ewers put in a powerful 80 minutes for the team. The Zimbabwean threw himself into the battle on his first start since round two. His defensive effort and carrying helped Ulster back into the game.
Post-Match Reaction
The Boss chats post win 🎤 pic.twitter.com/tIRSys6QRR
— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) November 17, 2023
Scorers
Ulster:
TRY: Hume, Stockdale, Herring
CON: Doak x3
PEN: Cooney x1
Emirates Lions:
TRY: Kriel, Sirgel
CON: Nohamba x2
PEN: Nohamba x1
Teams
Ulster:
(15-9) Stewart Moore; Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Jake Flannery (Burns), Nathan Doak (Cooney);
(1-8) Andy Warwick (O'Sullivan), Rob Herring, Scott Wilson (Moore); Alan O'Connor (Sheridan), Iain Henderson (capt); Dave Ewers, Reuben Crothers (McLoughlin), David McCann.
Replacements: John Andrew, Eric O'Sullivan, Marty Moore, Harry Sheridan, Lorcan McLoughlin, John Cooney, Billy Burns, Aaron Sexton.
Lions: Quan Horn; Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw (capt), Edwill van der Merwe; Sanele Nohamba, Morne van den Berg; Corne Fourie, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye; Ruben Schoeman, Willem Alberts; Hanru Sirgel, Emmanuel Tshituka, Francke Horn.
Replacements: Jaco Visagie, JP Smith, Ruan Smith, Ruan Delport, Ruan Venter, JC Pretorius, Jordan Hendrikse, Rabz Maxwane.