In a see-sawing contest, Gold Coast took a half-time lead, before the Reds fired back to go ahead 2-1 with 20 minutes to go, only for the visitors to score twice late on to clinch the win.

"It was definitely not a terrific game. It's hard when you lose a game knowing that your opponent was not better than your team," Coolen told Fox Sports after the game.

"Both teams created a couple of chances, I thought we were a little bit better, especially when we scored the second goal for 2-1.

"But you can not switch off and that's what we did. The first goal was not necessary, too much room, fantastic goal to be honest. But there was a defensive mistake.

"Then the second one, after scoring for 2-1, you have to don't give a goal away, but in the same minute they score an equaliser.

"And the last one, the penalty, was not necessary, so there was three mistakes. To win you can't make mistakes like that."

Reds striker Mathew Leckie, who departs the club now to link up with German outfit Borussia Moenchengladbach, said the players gave it their all.

"They got in front but I think we fought back well, got it back to 2-1," he said. "Then it all happened really quickly. We gave it our all, but it was unlucky."

Leckie also took time to reflect on the Reds season.

"We started off really good in the season, with 13 games unbeaten, then went through a bit of a rough patch, then found our form towards the end of the season and going into the finals," he said.

"At the end of the day, though, it's all about finals football, these are the games you need to win and today wasn't the day for us."