The Bluebirds head coach reckoned his side’s 1-0 victory was as much a psychological hurdle cleared as a valuable three points at the top of League One.
Barry-Murphy revealed he had been uneasy after learning the club had not won a league match on Boxing Day since 2017, a record that added extra weight to the festive fixture at Cardiff City Stadium.
That concern was eased shortly after half-time when Alex Robertson scored his first goal since January to condemn Exeter to defeat and send them back into the relegation zone.
“I was slightly concerned before the game when I was told about Cardiff’s record on this corresponding day in previous years. It was a big motivation to try and put that right and I’m over the moon with the players,” said the Bluebirds boss.
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The narrow win preserved Cardiff’s position at the summit and extended their lead over promotion rivals, but Barry-Murphy acknowledged the contest had not been straightforward, particularly in the opening period.
“The mentality of the team was very good. The first half probably didn’t go as smoothly as we would have wanted, but we saw how good Exeter were against Barnsley last week and we knew it would be tough to overcome them,” he said.
“But in the second half we were really calm and the movement that created the goal for Alex was something that we wanted to do.
“The skill level from Dylan Lawlor to find the pass to Alex was perfect.”
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Lawlor’s role in the decisive moment once again underlined the rapid progress of the 19-year-old centre-back, whose performances this season have attracted widespread attention.
After making just two senior appearances last term, the Wales international has become a mainstay for the League One leaders, featuring 22 times in all competitions and earning his first international caps.
Interest from Premier League sides and reported admiration from Bayern Munich have followed, but Barry-Murphy believes Cardiff remains the ideal environment for the teenager’s development.
“He loves playing for the club. I think the biggest thing that we can give him is an opportunity to play first-team football,” said the former Manchester City Under-21s coach.
“Some of these young players go to clubs like you're referencing and obviously go on different journeys. That means they don't play for the first team for a prolonged period.
“So the biggest thing we can give him is working every single day on the things that he needs to improve the most - and he gets a chance to play alongside Calum Chambers, Will Fish, Gabriel Osho, all those guys.
“That's brilliant for him in the time of his career when it's so important to play.”
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Attention for Cardiff now turns quickly to Monday night’s clash with Stevenage, another major test in the promotion race.
Barry-Murphy is hoping the momentum from Boxing Day — and the crowd of 22,291 who packed into the stadium — can carry into the final fixture of the festive period.
“Stevenage have done so well this season. We saw first hand how difficult they were to overcome in the away fixture,” he added.
“It took us everything to give ourselves a chance to get to the point where Callum Robinson won the game for us at the death. So, we’ll have to be at our absolute best like we were today.”
For Exeter, the defeat was another example of fine margins going against them. The loss was their 12th of the campaign and saw them slip from 20th to 22nd in the table, back into the relegation places, although manager Gary Caldwell remained defiant.
“We have been in all our away games against the bigger teams and we’ve only fallen short by a goal. It shows what sort of team we can be,” said Caldwell.
“There have been small margins in all our games against teams in the top half of the table and so there is always hope. We know the type of team we are.
“We were in the game and caused a few problems. We just have to be a bit better.
“We were very good defensively against a very good side who like to dominate possession. We had to frustrate them and not give them chances, which we did apart from the one defensive slip-up.”
Caldwell was also keen to keep perspective on Exeter’s league position, stressing that the season remains a long one.
“When we moved out of the relegation zone last week I didn’t mention it, so I’m not going to talk about falling back into it after this defeat. Our fight won’t be against the teams at the top in this league, but against those around and just above us.
“The best the club has ever finished is eighth in this league and we are only nine points away from that target. The only time the league table really matters is after the 46th game of the season, so we’ll see where we deserve to be by then.”
