Distraught Hull City captain Curtis Davies apologised to the club's "brilliant" fans after his side surrendered a two-goal lead at Wembley.
Arsenal scored a late winner in extra-time through man-of-the-match Aaron Ramsey as Arsene Wenger's men snatched a 3-2 victory.
Davies said: "When Arsenal were tired, they showed more quality.
"We gave everything. We were 2-0 up and it was our game to throw away and that is what we did.
"I would rather have won and not get the applause, then lose and get the applause.
"It hurts. Our fans were brilliant. It's just a huge shame we couldn't get the trophy for them."![wembleysteps]()
DEJECTED: Hull City players after receiving their runners-up medals.
"This is not the occasion to moan about decisions but their first goal was not a free-kick and their second goal was not a corner. "We will realise over the next few days what might have been. We just didn't have enough." Meanwhile, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger heaped praise on City after they pushed the favourites all the way. He said: "Congratulations to Hull. They played their part and played fantastic. "We showed how not to start an FA Cup final and also how to finish an FA Cup final. "This is the turning point in the life of this team. We came back and I am very proud of that."
Goals from James Chester and Curtis Davies gave Hull a shock 2-0 lead inside eight minutes.
But a fine Santi Cazorla free-kick halved the deficit before half-time. Laurent Koscielny scrambled home Arsenal's equaliser with twenty minutes remaining, before Ramsey struck deep into extra-time.
City boss Steve Bruce said: "I cannot blame the players at all.
"It could have been a really memorable season for us but it wasn't to be.
"In terms of endeavour and determination I could not fault them to a man. They were magnificent.
DEJECTED: Hull City players after receiving their runners-up medals."This is not the occasion to moan about decisions but their first goal was not a free-kick and their second goal was not a corner. "We will realise over the next few days what might have been. We just didn't have enough." Meanwhile, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger heaped praise on City after they pushed the favourites all the way. He said: "Congratulations to Hull. They played their part and played fantastic. "We showed how not to start an FA Cup final and also how to finish an FA Cup final. "This is the turning point in the life of this team. We came back and I am very proud of that."
