"We are delighted to be in the final and a lot of hard work has been done to get here. Having said that, that's not the end of it. Once you qualify for an All-Ireland final, you rest for a day or two and think about preparing your team and how you are going to win it and we are in the final preparation stage of that," said Lane.

Galway beat Dublin in that 1972 final by two points and although the Tribesmen were impressive in their semi-final win over Cork, Lane believes that the bond in his squad should see them to their first Cross of Cashel triumph.

"We have been with this team since they were Under-13 back in 1999 and we brought them the whole way through. Having said that there are a lot of people who have worked with different squads and there are a lot of those lads on the panel so everyone can take credit for this Dublin team.

"It may be the management at this stage but we have to recognise all of the work that was done by other people and indeed the most important work of all was done by their clubs."

Lane feels that the tough and competitive encounter which Galway came through to take an impressive extra-time win over Cork leaves him under no illusions as to the task his side will face tomorrow.

"Galway appeared to get better as they went along. I thought Cork were very strong in the early stages of the game but Galway knuckled down and came out on top in extra-time," he added.

"Certainly I think the extra-time will suit them because they hadn't got a game prior to that. They got a good hour and 25 minutes in Thurles and Galway won't be short of any preparation."

This is something which Galway manager Vincent Mullins believes has been the making of his side. With just one game to date, the Tribesmen have not had the best of preparation but Mullins feels that the extra-time win in Thurles crowned his side.

"The extra-time was a great benefit to us because, and it is well documented that we had no game going into the All-Ireland semi-final and Cork would have played three and they would have been fitter and had more match practice," he admitted.

Although Joe Canning finished with the man of the match award, it was far from a one-man performance according to Mullins.

"You could have given the man of the match to any one of five or six players on the day but I suppose it's not great if the goalie gets it because they say that he was very, very busy and he was busy making some wonderful saves. Joe Canning is also a very special talent."

The Galway Under-21s are searching for their county's ninth All-Ireland title tomorrow, while for Dublin, history will be made should John McCaffrey lift the trophy as this championship has been an elusive one for them to date.