Swansea ended the season in defeat as Casper De Norre’s goal decided a fiery affair against Millwall on the final day of the 2023/24 Championship season.

In the space of eight second half minutes, Matt Grimes had a penalty saved by Millwall goalkeeper Matija Sarkic, before the visitors went down the other end and scored through midfielder De Norre.

It was a blow for Swansea, who had dominated the possession and, largely, the chances in the game up until that point.

As the game was winding down to a close, Japhet Tanganga and Swansea substitute Jerry Yates were both shown straight red cards after they clashed following a heavy challenge.

From there, the game devolved into spats and squabbles before the referee blew for full time.

Defeat means that Millwall leapfrog Swansea into 13th, with the Welsh side a place behind.

There was a familiar, almost comforting, clash of styles on show at the Swansea.com Stadium. Swansea, under manager Luke Williams, have reverted to their patient, attractive, possession-based style of football, while Millwall were more than happy to relinquish control and look to play direct to Tom Bradshaw up front.

Both sides will feel that this has been a season to bank and move on from. Swansea, with the failure of Michael Duff and the protracted signing of his replacement in Williams, and Millwall who, until a  recent run of four wins in a row, were in the relegation mix.

On the nicest weekend of the year so far, as the Championship looked elsewhere for promotion and relegation battles, these two sides had nothing more than pride and potentially an extra place or two up the table to play for.

After some back and forth in the early stages, the home fans were almost out of their seats as Liam Cullen whipped an enticing ball across the face of the goal. It seemed destined for Ronald at the back post but Danny McNamara’s stretching clearance saved his side from going behind in the first ten minutes.

To their credit, the visitors did attempt to press Swansea high up the pitch. They employed a rigid 4-4-2 mid-block and looked to spring onto captain Matt Grimes, as well as fullbacks Josh Tymon and Josh Key whenever they received the back from the centre halves.

Ben Cabango, starting a fifth match in a row, was dominant with and without the ball for the home side. Often tasked with tracking the quick breaks of Ryan Longman and Zian Flemming, the Wales international swept up with authority and was ever-reliable with the ball at his feet.

Half-chances fell onto the head of Charlie Patino and at the feet of Ronald, but neither were able to convert after both were set up by Ollie Cooper.

Just as the first half seemed to be winding down, Bradshaw managed to get the wrong side of Bashir Humphries on the counter and released Longman. The winger drove into the Swansea area but Cabango did well to show him wide and his powerful shot was beaten away by Carl Rushworth with relative ease.

It was a sign off how the game had gone that referee Geoff Eltringham blew the whistle for the break the second his watch hit 45 minutes.

Both sets of players came out after the interval somewhat reinvigorated. Swansea looked to progress the ball up the pitch with more urgency, while this led to some carelessness that Bradshaw and co could exploit on the counter.

The game exploded into life on the 65th minute when Ronald’s drive into the box and feint past Millwall skipper Jake Cooper brought the concession of a penalty.

Swansea’s own captain, Matt Grimes, stepped up and his penalty was saved by Matija Sarkic, diving to his right. Grimes put the ball at a comfortable height and could only look on in anguish as Cullen put the rebounding ball over the bar.

The home side looked a little rocked after the miss and took more chances. Ronald took one risk too many as he looked to flick the ball over the newly-introduced Duncan Watmore in his own half.

Watmore pounced and drove the ball into the box before cutting it back for Casper De Norre to slam the ball home from inside the six yard box.

Ronald and Paterson were hooked by Luke Williams, who looked to Jerry Yates and youngster Azeem Abdulai to rescue their afternoon.

A heavy challenge by Humphries on Watmore sparked a melee between Yates and Japhet Tanganga, with their actions enough for referee Eltringham to send both players from the pitch.

A disagreement between the two led to both grabbing at each other’s shirts before their teammates pulled them apart.

The unsavoury scenes were not over as, the dying minutes, Abdulai skipped past McNamara, who body checked him. The Swansea winger did not take kindly to the defender’s treatment and let him know as much, leading to bookings for both players as they had to separated by the linesman.

Swansea: Rushworth; Key, Cabango, Humphries, Tymon; Grimes, Patino (Walsh 61′), Ronald (Abdulai 73′), Cooper (Lowe 61′), Paterson (Yates 73′ Red Card 86′); Cullen.

Subs not used: Fisher, Kuharevich, Wood, Govea, Lissah.

Millwall: Sarkic, Leonard  (Norton-Cuffy 58′), Cooper, Tanganga (Red Card 86′), McNamara; Longman, De Norre (Goal 72′), Mitchell, Esse (Watmore 58′); Flemming (Hutchinson 86′), Bradshaw.

Subs not used: Trueman, Mayor, Emakhu, Saville, Honeyman, Harding.