a short-term deal, originally to prove his fitness. He played in all six of Queens' games in their run to the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, including the third goal in the 4–3 semi-final victory over Aberdeen at Hampden Park that took the club to their first-ever Scottish Cup Final in their 89-year history. Barry Nicholson of Aberdeen later said that he felt O'Connor was Queens best player on the day. In the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, as Queens trailed Rangers 2–0 at half time through goals by Kris Boyd and DaMarcus Beasley, O'Connor crossed the ball for Steve Tosh to score Queen of the South's first goal of the match in 50 minutes. The Doonhamers equalised in 52 minutes through club captain Jim Thomson. Kris Boyd scored his 2nd goal of the final and Rangers 3rd in 71 minutes to secure the Scottish Cup for Rangers. O'Connor scored in the home leg of Queen of the South's UEFA Cup 2nd qualification round match against FC Nordsjælland after 28 minutes. This made O'Connor the first player to score for Queens in a UEFA Cup Competition. Retirement and return to football In April 2009 O'Connor announced he would retire the following month after a series of knee injuries, having initially been advised by medical staff to retire several months previously. After retiring from the game at the end of the 2008–09 season, O'Connor decided to visit his surgeon and got the green light to relaunch his football career. After training with Queen of the South during February 2010, O'Connor returned as a trialist for Annan Athletic versus Elgin City on 6 March 2010. O'Connor played 81 minutes of the 3–3 draw at Galabank. On 13 March 2010, O'Connor had a second match as a trialist for Annan Athletic versus Forfar Athletic and scored the opening goal in the 5–1 victory at Station Park. O'Connor played 63 minutes of this match. O'Connor returned to the first team squad at Queen of the South on 18 March 2010. Manager at the time, Gordon Chisholm said, "The 'big man' actually hung up his boots at the end of last season but came out of retirement a month ago and has turned out twice as a trialist for Annan Athletic. Sean's been training with us for the past month and we all know what an asset he can be. He'll be in the squad for Saturday