The Bluebirds overturned a first-half deficit at Cardiff City Stadium, with goals from Omari Kellyman and Yousef Salech securing a result that head coach Barry-Murphy admitted was anything but straightforward.
“It felt like a pretty chaotic game and you could see what the victory meant to the players at the end,” said Barry-Murphy.
“I’m very pleased that we managed to get that win and to move to the top of the table.”
The Irishman’s side struggled to find rhythm in the first half, falling behind to Lewis Wing’s opener for the visitors.
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But a more aggressive second-half display turned the match around, much to the delight of a lively home crowd.
Barry-Murphy believes that embracing the unpredictable nature of the contest — and coming through it — will serve his players well as they adjust to the pressure of leading the division.
“I think for everybody who is involved at the club it’s very natural to look towards the table and when I was younger as a player I used to speak about not looking at the table and ignoring it.
“But really it’s very unproductive because it’s very exciting and the players want to feel as if they’re going for something and they believe they are good enough to challenge at the top end of the table.
“I think it’s really good for the players to feel that excitement of being at the top end of the table and to look forward to what we can do for the rest of the season.
“Inside the dressing room we have to obviously focus on how we’re going to maintain that with performances that are better than today.”
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The Cardiff boss also made headlines for a bold tactical decision in the closing stages, substituting substitute Cian Ashford just 11 minutes after bringing him on, in order to strengthen his defence and protect the lead.
"I didn't like it [having to make the change]. We'd made all of our changes to try and win the game," Barry-Murphy explained.
"The game was chaos and we have an obligation to try and win the game to be at the top of the table.
"For me, it just looked inevitable with all those attacking players on the pitch that we were going to concede chances and obviously Yousef [Salech] could have come off, but they [Reading] were so dangerous with their set-pieces, free-kicks on corners that, for us, that would have been a huge problem.
"At that point, I made a decision that I thought it was best for us to win the game. Cian was the victim of being taken off. It's not something that I enjoy based on the value we hold Cian in."
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Reading, meanwhile, were left stunned after failing to take anything from a match they dominated for long spells.
Manager Noel Hunt admitted his frustration as the Royals remained in the relegation zone despite creating numerous chances.
“I thought we played so well, bar probably a 10 to 15-minute spell in the second half. I thought we were the better team by far and they’re top of the league,” Hunt said.
“We had 18 shots inside the box, four one-on-ones today. We’ve got to keep going and keep creating the chances because that’s what we want to do. Good teams will create chances.
“I think they had 10 shots, three on target, which is the disappointing part in the second half as two of them are goals.”
For Cardiff, however, the points belonged to Barry-Murphy’s men, who found clarity in confusion and composure in chaos — a resilience their manager believes will be crucial if they are to stay at the summit.
