Pat Spillane has said that he was glad to see Kerry great Darragh Ó Sé hang up his boots earlier this week.

The eight-time All-Ireland winner, who paid massive tribute to his fellow county man, said it was better that the midfielder retired from the game on his own account now, rather than being forced to in years to come.

"I'm glad Darragh Ó Sé has retired. Glad the man himself is leaving the game on his terms before anyone pushes him. Darragh has always been his own man and this is the right way for him to get out, when he's still wanted.

"The man is a Kerry legend, he was the natural successor to Mick O'Connell and Jack O'Shea as a prince among Kerry midfielders. He had a bit of O'Connell's artistry and a lot of Jacko's athleticism, and he had a bit of the devil in him too. Most of the best ones have," Spillane wrote in his column in the Irish Sunday World.

Ó Sé was a favourite of Spillane's, and he admitted that his fondest memories we not of him making the outstanding fetch at the centre of the field in a Kingdom jersey, but of his performances all over the pitch for his county

"My favourite memories of Darragh are not of him doing his stuff at midfield. It was when he would go back to his own goal-line, usually late in games, to soar into the air from a standing start and pluck down a '45' that was heading over the Kerry crossbar in a tight one.

"That was Darragh Ó Sé at his best," wrote Spillane. Tweet

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