24 September,2009 11:20 AM IST | | Clinton Vaz
Playing together since the age of eight, Carmel of St Joseph's (Malad) twin sisters Crystal and Rachael Blakely are proving to be too hot to handle for their inter-school opponents.
Yesterday, the sisters played a valuable role in their team beating Canossa Convent (Andheri) 5-4 via tie-breaker to win the Nike-MSSA U-16 football title at Azad Maidan.
Rachael handles the defence, while Crystal, the team's striker, is a multi-tasker. After the match finished goalless at the end of regulation time, Crystal donned the goalkeeper's gloves for the penalty shoot-out, scoring once and saving another to hand St Joseph's victory.
It would have been impossible to distinguish between the identical twins had Crystal not accidentally chipped off one of Rachael's front teeth while trying to jump over her recently.
On the field, the sisters claim to be each other's biggest critics, but off it, they are best friends.
"We always shout at each other during matches,u00a0 but once the final whistle is blown, we can't do without each other," said Crystal.
St Joseph's coach Moin-ul- Haque is delighted with the duo for having helped the team win the title after a six-year wait. "The Blakelys are always an important part of the team. But I'm happy we finally managed to win this title after six long years. In the last few years, we have been losing in the semis and end up with a third place," he said.
