Auckland FC's dream debut season in football's A-League has come up one game short of the Grand Final.

Their 2-nil semi-final second leg loss to Melbourne Victory in Auckland - on the back of a controversial refereeing call - has consigned them to a 2-1 defeat on aggregate.

Sky Sport football analyst Jacob Spoonley says this outcome would have been 'devastating' for Auckland fans. 

"The big moments are what you want to get right - and these sort of situations...the implication of a lot of the rules is that you want to allow play to develop to ensure that if a goal's going to be scored, that you let it hit the back of the neck."

LISTEN ABOVE