Good afternoon and welcome to GAA Headquarters for this afternoon’s Leinster SHC final between Dublin and Galway.

Anthony Daly and the Dubs shocked Kilkenny last weekend. Playing their fifth Championship game in as many weeks, can they dethrone the Leinster champions this afternoon or will the Bob O’Keeffe Cup be heading home with the Tribesmen for the second year in a row.

The teams are out on the pitch beneath me going through their final preparations and with just over 10 minutes to throw-in, Croke Park is starting to fill up — it will be interesting to see what type of the crowd the Dublin hurlers can pull.

First things first, here’s how they line out today:

Dublin: Gary Maguire; Niall Corcoran, Peter Kelly, Paul Schutte; Stephen Hiney, Liam Rushe, Michael Carton; John Mc Caffrey (c), Joseph Boland; Conal Keaney, Ryan O’Dwyer, Danny Sutcliffe; David O’Callaghan, David Treacy, Paul Ryan.

Galway: James Skehill; Fergal Moore, Kevin Hynes, Johnny Coen; David Collins, Shane Kavanagh, Joseph Cooney; Iarla Tannian, James Regan; David Burke, Conor Cooney, Cyril Donnellan; David Glennon, Joe Canning, Niall Burke.

If you were wondering who the Galway star is, the loud shrieks that just accompanied the announcement of Joe Canning’s name over the Croke Park PA should have set you straight fairly quickly.

Of course we’ve already had the minor hurling decider here in Croke Park this afternoon with Kilkenny winning their first provincial title since 2010. If you missed it, here’s the report.

If you’re looking for a bit of pre-match reading while the teams complete the traditional pre-match parade, led by the Artane Band, here are five key factors that will determine today’s outcome.

Are Galway too reliant on Canning? Can Paul Ryan sharpen up his free-taking? Read it here >

We’re up and running with Dublin shooting into a rather full Hill 16 in the first half.

Galway 0-1 Dublin 0-0: 1 min — Joe Canning opens the scoring with a pointed free from the right.

Dublin 0-2 Galway 0-1: 4 mins — Paul Ryan points his first free of the afternoon and then Dotsy O’Callaghan gives Dublin the lead with the first score from play.

Dublin 0-2 Galway 0-2: 5 mins — Lovely score by Conor Cooney to level it up. Canning has a chance from play but sends it to the left and wide.

6 mins — Dublin have a free directly in front of goal and instead of taking his point, Paul Ryan drills it at goal in the hope of catching the Galway defence off guard. It’s stopped by a combination of Fergal Moore and Kevin Hynes before Shane Kavanagh clears the danger.

Dublin 0-3 Galway 0-3: 9 mins — Ryan draws Dublin level with another free.

Dublin 0-4 Galway 0-4: 12 mins — Joey Boland’s long free drops just outside the square and breaks to O’Callaghan who tries to flick it into the top corner of James Skehill’s net. Over the bar for a point. Canning equalises a moment later.

Dublin 0-5 Galway 0-4: 14 mins — Conal Keaney nicks a ground ball away from Shane Kavanagh and plays it to Ryan O’Dwyer who scores his first point of the afternoon.

Dublin 0-6 Galway 0-4: 16 mins — Danny Sutcliffe plays the ball into Paul Ryan who drags Kevin Hynes out into the corner-forward channel and then turns him to send over a lovely score.

Dublin 0-7 Galway 0-4: 17 mins — Very determined hurling by Dublin here who are going hard for every single ball. Ryan’s shot looks to be drifting wide but O’Callaghan keeps it in play and sends it back to Keaney to score.

Dublin 0-9 Galway 0-4: 19 mins — Joey Boland booms a  point over from the halfway line and O’Callaghan follows it up with his second of the afternoon. Dublin lead by five as we pass the mid-way point in this first half.

Dublin 0-10 Galway 0-5: 21 mins — James Regan and Johnny McCaffrey trade points. Galway make a change with Andrew Smith on for Regan.

Dublin 1-10 Galway 0-5: 25 mins — GOAL FOR DUBLIN! O’Callaghan turns Moore inside out and instead of heading for goal himself, pulls it back to Ryan in space. He fires a low drive which Skehill gets his hurl on but can’t stop.

Dublin 1-11 Galway 0-5: 26 mins — Dublin stretch their lead to nine as Ryan O’Dwyer points from play.

28 mins — David Burke can count himself a very lucky man. Danny Sutcliffe concedes the free in the tackle and as the two get back to their feet, Burke prods him the ribs with his hurl. Referee Johnny Ryan shows the yellow card but on a different day, that might have been red.

Dublin 1-11 Galway 0-6: 30 mins —  Joe Canning, who is operating out in the half-forward line, collects a short pass from Donnellan and points. That’s his second score from play.

Dublin 1-12 Galway 0-7: 32 mins — Dublin skipper Johnny McCaffrey sends over another well-struck point from distance. Canning cancels it out with a pointed free.

34 mins — Confusion at the Canal End as Canning’s free flirts dangerously close to the right upright. Eventually the umpires and referee refer it to Hawkeye and it’s ruled a wide.

35+1 mins — Ryan has a chance to send Dublin into the break on a high but he drags a free from 60 metres out left and wide.

HALF TIME: Dublin 1-12 Galway 0-7

Canning misses a sideline cut from the left and that’s all she wrote in this first half. Dublin go into the break eight points ahead and full value for it. They’ve worked relentlessly in this first half and put Galway under pressure at every opportunity. The Leinster champions certainly have a battle on their hands here.

Scorers for Dublin: Ryan 1-3 (2f), O’Callaghan 0-3, McCaffrey, O’Dwyer both 0-2, Boland, Keaney both 0-1.

Scorers for Galway: Canning 0-4 (2f), Tannian, Regan, Cooney all 0-1.

Two changes for Galway at the break — Damien Hayes and Aidan Harte on for Iarla Tannian and Cyril Donnellan as Anthony Cunningham looks to inject some life into his attack.

Dublin 1-12 Galway 0-8: 37 mins — Canning points a free into Hill 16 to open the scoring in this second half.

Dublin 1-13 Galway 0-9: 37 mins — More like it from Galway as Canning slips between Kelly and Carton to nick the ball before sending over a lovely score. Paul Ryan responds with one from play for Dublin at the other end to keep the gap at seven.

Dublin 1-14 Galway 0-9: 39 mins — Monster free from Ryan who points from inside his own 65 metre line. Wonderful strike.

Dublin 2-14 Galway 0-9: 41 mins — GOAL FOR DUBLIN! Croke Park erupts as Paul Ryan slams home Dublin’s second goal of the afternoon. It was set up by a wonderful piece of fielding out on the right by Conal Keaney, though the Ballyboden man seemed to mishit his ball into the full-forward line. Kevin Hynes had a bit of a tug at Ryan’s shirt but there was no stopping the shot.

Dublin 2-15 Galway 0-9: 43 mins — Michael Carton points and Dublin now lead by 12 points.

44 mins — A chance for Galway to close the gap as Canning stands over a 21-metre free and drills it. It’s blocked on the line and Dublin clear without conceding.

Dublin 2-15 Galway 0-10: 45 mins — Gary Maguire is alert in the Dublin goal to deny David Burke a goal chance. Aidan Harte points for Galway who bring on Jonathan Glynn to replace David Glennon.

Dublin 2-16 Galway 0-11: 47 mins — O’Callaghan points his fourth from play for the Dubs but Cooney responds immediately with one for Galway.

Dublin 2-16 Galway 1-11: 50 mins — GOAL FOR GALWAY! Could this be the lifeline the Tribesmen so desperately need? Canning catches the ball over the head of full-back Peter Kelly and barrels his way through the Dublin cover before scoring past a helpless Maguire. Twenty minutes to play but Galway still have a mountain to climb.

Dublin 2-17 Galway 2-11: 53 mins — GOAL FOR GALWAY! There’s plenty of life left in this one yet as David Burke hauls Galway back to within six points with a marvellous strike.

Dublin 2-18 Galway 2-12: 56 mins — Boland responds with a point for Dublin but Galway are straight back down the other end where Canning points a free. Six points in it with just under a quarter of an hour to play.

Dublin 2-19 Galway 2-12: 62 mins — It’s absolutely frantic with some wonderful last-ditch tackles, pokes and blocks from both sides. Keaney finds a little bit of space in midfield and sends the ball over the bar to give Dublin a small bit of breathing room.

Dublin 2-19 Galway 2-13: 63 mins — What a chance for Jonathan Glynn. He gets the better of Oisin Gough and has a sight at goal but fires over the bar.

65 mins — That could be the match winner for Dublin as Gary Maguire makes a brilliant diving save with his stick to deny Canning a point blank range. As play breaks down the other end, Mark Schutte has a chance to wrap things up for the Dubs but fluffs his lines and bobbles the ball into Skehill’s hands.

Dublin 2-21 Galway 2-13: 67 mins — Another one for Hawkeye as Conor McCormack’s shot sneaks inside the upright. Simon Lambert, who has just come on for Ryan O’Dwyer, adds another and the Dubs lead by eight now. Galway need goals fast.

Dublin 2-22 Galway 2-13: 69 mins — Dublin have weathered the Galway comeback and now they’re stretching their lead with every possession. Paul Ryan, who has been quieter since his second goal, points another from play.

Dublin 2-24 Galway 2-13: 70 mins — Conor McCormack and Danny Sutcliffe add two more for Dublin. There’ll be two minutes of additional time before they can start to celebrate.

Dublin 2-25 Galway 2-13: 70+2 mins — Anthony Daly and Anthony Cunningham share an embrace on the line while they wait for Paul Ryan to take the game’s final free, which he puts over the bar and nearly over the Davin Stand as well.

FULL TIME: Dublin 2-25 Galway 2-13

THAT’S IT! Dublin’s long, long wait for a Leinster hurling title is over as Hill 16 erupts.

Johnny McCaffrey lifts the Bob O’Keeffe Cup, the first time a Dublin captain has done so since 1961. Anthony Daly’s Dublin are the Leinster hurling champions.

That’s it from Croke Park for now but we’ll have plenty of reaction and analysis later in the day. Thanks for reading.