LAMONTVILLE Golden Arrows ended up hanging on for dear life in a game they should have comfortably won against Steve Komphela's Platinum Stars yesterday.

The Absa Premiership match at Chatsworth Stadium eventually ended 1-1 but Arrows should have wrapped up all three points in the first half.

Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi summed it up well when he said: "We should have won it because we created two clear chances in the first half and in the second half we upped our game."

That was until Stars cancelled out Thamsanqa Gabuza's 48th-minute opener, with Almiro Lobo netting the equaliser with a free-kick in the 81st minute.

Then Komphela's lads threw caution to the wind, forcing Arrows to defend desperately before the final whistle.

"We came for a point and we are happy with it,' said Komphela. "Arrows are a very good team and we came here knowing very well not to give the ball away because that would create problems for us."

Arrows' first scoring opportunity fell to Musa Bilankulu in the 17th minute but his shot went wide. Thanduyise Khuboni should also have punished Stars in the 40th minute, but left in acres of space inside the box, he shot narrowly wide.

The game opened up a bit in the second half, with Arrows pushing more from the middle. This gave them more freedom to penetrate Stars and the goal finally came in the 48th minute.

Joseph Musonda's throw-in was flicked on by Richard Henyekane and the ball fell to Gabuza who easily beat Wayne Sandilands.

Second-half substitute Lobo should have equalised for Stars shortly after coming on but his shot went across the face of goal.

Komphela brought on Henrico Botes for Jabu Mahlangu in the 72nd minute, while Mngqithi introduced Nhlanhla Zothwane for Nqobizitha Mkhize.

Arrows' Siyanda Zwane was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 76th minute.