June 2011

Twelve months on from a captivating first final in Cardiff, the silverware made the trip to London for an historic afternoon in the trophy’s history.

Sunday March 30 2008 was the day that everyone at Johnstone’s Paint will remember forever, as more than 56,000 fans crammed into the phenomenal new Wembley, as MK Dons created their own piece of history in the process.

In beating Grimsby Town 2-0, the Dons won their first piece of silverware with what proved to be a comfortable victory.

In manager Paul Ince and captain Keith Andrews, they had two talented names that grabbed most of the headlines on the day.

But the trophy was taken aback by a colossal centre half by the name of Sean O’Hanlon, who not only scored the second goal late in the second half, but marshaled his troops with minimum fuss and maximum efficiency.

Sean O’Hanlon (MK Dons)

What is it with centre halves and clinical finishes in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final?

Sean O’Hanlon powered home a towering header for MK Dons in the final throes of their final against Grimsby Town, which most fans from Milton Keynes will remember forever.

It wasn’t just the goal that caught the eye though, more the commanding presence from the big Liverpudlian, whose shining pate seemed to be on the end of most of the attacks that the Mariners mustered.

O’Hanlon was a fans’ favourite at MK Dons, playing in well over 150 league games and scoring 15 times, over a five year period.

He previously played for Everton before joining Swindon Town, where he was a regular in the first team squad and was made team captain after the departure of former skipper, Andy Gurney, in 2005.

He is recently signed a contract with Hibernian to play in the Scottish Premier League, but said his Wembley goal was the highlight of his career.

Sean said: “Scoring that goal was the pinnacle of my career and something I’ll never forget.

“That season in general was a highlight, Paul Ince, a former England international, came in as manager and we won the league.”

Johnstone's. Bringing colour to the beautiful game.