Coming into the clash at Gardiners Creek Reserve, the Suns had put together back-to-back wins in response to an opening day defeat.
By contrast, the hosts were looking to put successive losses behind them in front of the home crowd in Melbourne.
Early in proceedings, their woes looked to be going from bad to worse on home turf too, when Suns ace Mangara Munguakonkhwa struck from the penalty spot after 11 minutes.
The attacker had been fouled inside the 18-yard box following a series of stepovers and duly stepped up to break the deadlock after he was brought down.
However, encouraged by the support on the sidelines, the Lions soon rallied back in what proved to be a turning point in the trajectory of the encounter after they were awarded a spot kick of their own.
In a spirited fightback, the home side grabbed the equaliser 13 minutes later via Cameron Saul, who converted from 12 yards.
The sharp-shooting forward was soon proving difficult to contain for the visitors – and the Englishman proved to be the difference-maker following the half-time interval.
The 30-year-old pounced with a typical poacher’s left-footed finish to fire the Lions into the lead in the 56th minute.
From there, their game management paid dividends, as they worked tirelessly to maintain their advantage before securing all three points in the second half.
Putting the result beyond doubt, Tyreke Johnson put the seal on a hard-fought victory just four minutes from time following a counter-attack as the visitors chased a late leveller.
Reflecting on the fixture in Burwood East, Suns coach Craig Carley was eager to see the positives in the performance despite the loss.
“It was certainly one of those games where we could’ve came away with the three points,” he said.
“We probably didn’t perform at our optimum levels but credit to the boys, they hung in there. I don’t feel like we managed the moments where we got our chances as well as Eastern Lions on the day.
“Absolutely no qualms about the end result. Our boys understand and know that we need to turn up and not get ahead of ourselves against any opposition really.
“Fair play to the Lions, they took their chances and their ‘keeper made some great saves.”
Singling out some of his players for praise in spite of the defeat, he particularly earmarked former Preston North End star Danny Edwards as having provided some impetus down out wide.
“Danny was brilliant on the night, he was a real attacking threat down the left-hand side. I thought the boys performed at a reasonable level,” he said.
“Mangara looked dangerous on the right and we kept plugging away but it was maybe just that final pass in the final third that let us down on the night.
“There’s certainly things to work on and reflect on before next weekend against Keilor Park.”
The result in Melbourne leaves the two sides virtually neck-and-neck in the VPL2 standings after four games played.
The GV Suns and Eastern Lions occupy fourth and fifth, respectively, in the league table at this stage in the campaign.
Suns boss Carley will now be tasked with returning his side to winning ways starting with Keilor Park next time out on March 14.
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