Self-belief the key ingredient of Stephen McDonnell's skillset

'I didn’t believe in myself, nobody in my family had played at that level, so I was beginning to doubt myself and doubt that I should even be there'

Glen Rovers’ Stephen McDonnell celebrates after winning the Cork SHC final against Erin’s Own in 2016. Picture: Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile

Stephen McDonnell called it a day last week, ending almost a decade in the red and white of Cork.

He weighed it up carefully and found a lot of arguments for staying on, but in the end his decision was clear-cut.