The Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) suffered a narrow 4-3 defeat to Royal Media Services (RMS) in their second match of the season, played at the University of Nairobi’s Kabete campus on Saturday morning.
The SJAK team, led by player-coach Gregory Mulemi and veteran Fred Arocho, started the 2026 season on a high note, thrashing Azam FC 8-2 in their opening match. However, SJAK had their intended back-to-back match advantage nipped in the bud against RMS, despite putting up a spirited fight.
“We didn’t field a full-strength team, but I’m glad we went down fighting,” Mulemi, a career radio and TV presenter, quipped after the match. “The friendlies we have played against media houses are very key as they enhance cohesion and indeed celebrate years of practice as professionals. Standards have been set, and only the sky’s the limit.”
The match was evenly contested, with both teams creating chances in both halves..
SJAK and RMS were both deadlocked 2-2 at halftime, but RMS pulled through with a late penalty courtesy of Ramogi TV news anchor Emmanuel Ochieng. Other RMS goals came from Newton Andika (2) of Citizen TV Technical department and Collins Orina of Citizen Radio.
Bracho Ayoo proved the cream of the crop for SJAK as he netted a hat-trick.
“SJAK is a team of professionals, and we’re proud of the effort we put in today,” Mulemi said. “We’ll regroup and prepare for our next match against the Sports Disputes Tribunal (CDF).”
SJAK executive committee member Geoffrey Mwamburi, who is also the team coordinator, echoed Mulemi’s sentiments, emphasizing the importance of media houses coming together.
“Media houses need to come together and support each other,” Mwamburi said. “We’re not just journalists, we’re sports enthusiasts, and this is a great opportunity for us to build relationships and promote sports in Kenya.”
SJAK will face CDF in their next match on March 7, looking to bounce back from this defeat.
