The Bluebirds’ 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers moved them firmly towards an immediate return to the Championship, opening up a double-digit gap over the chasing pack and leaving their rivals’ automatic promotion hopes in tatters.
After a run of inconsistent results, Cardiff delivered a performance that reflected the control and authority they had shown earlier in the season, backed up by goals.
“Before today's game there would have been question marks about our form, about where we were at, about how many wins we'd had in the last eight games,” admitted Barry-Murphy.
“We had to accept all that, and we did – we took it on the chin and still played the way we played in spite of that.
“I couldn't have been happier with the intent the players showed throughout the first half and the main focus of half-time was to make sure that we could reassert our dominance.
“We did that and scored the goals at important times.
“That reflected our dominance, which we probably haven't done in the recent past. It was a big help for us to win as convincingly as we did against a team as strong as Bolton.”
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Two goals in quick succession early in the second half — from Omari Kellyman and Chris Willock — finally turned control into a result, ending a three-match winless run at home and a broader sequence that had seen just two victories in eight games.
“It’s an incredible feeling. We had real awareness that our home results in the past few games haven't been what we wanted,” Barry-Murphy added.
“To see the supporters return in such numbers today and give everybody ultimately what they wanted and craved is huge for us.
“I think we haven't been clinical enough in games previously. Today is a brilliant day for us, and we still could and should have scored more.”
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Two goals in as many minutes at the start of the second half brought to an end nearly five-and-a-half hours without a goal at Cardiff City Stadium and it fell to the man who had scored the last home goal way back on 17 February to break the deadlock.
Five minutes after the break Kellyman was left in oceans of space at a corner and headed home.
Two minutes later Willock rounded off a a break out from the edge of the Bluebirds’ box by sweeping the ball past Jack Bonham into the bottom corner.
The win took Cardiff 11 points clear of Bolton in the race for a top two finish and left them needing a win at Huddersfield on Tuesday night and at Reading on Saturday to join Lincoln City in automatic promotion.
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If they win on Tuesday, and other results go their way, then they could even be promoted on Wednesday.
“We knew our home results in the past few games hadn't been what we wanted, especially at this stage of the season when we've had our biggest crowds,” said Barry-Murphy.
“So to see the fans return in such numbers today and be able to give everybody ultimately what they want and craved is huge for us.
“I couldn't have been happier with the intent the players showed throughout the first half and the main focus of half-time was to make sure that we could reassert our dominance. We did that and scored the goals at important times.
“That reflected our dominance, which we probably haven't done in the recent past. It was a big help for us to win as convincingly as we did against a team as strong as Bolton.
“In previous weeks our performances were giving us the chance to win a game like today, but we hadn't done it.
“We had to go and do it today, and we did. Now we have to quickly recover and go again on Tuesday.”
With momentum restored and their dominance translating into goals again, Cardiff appear to have rediscovered their edge at the most decisive stage of the season.
For Bolton boss Steven Schumacher, the result effectively ended any realistic chance of catching Cardiff in the race for automatic promotion.
“I told them to take the hand break off – I didn’t know what we were waiting for, maybe for them to score the first goal. I told them there was nothing to lose and to go for it,” he said.
“But their individuals were miles better than ours. They played with confidence, but we didn’t have any.
“We were comprehensively beaten by a better team and that’s our chance of automatic promotion gone, although there is still a lot to play for.”
