The Bluebirds boss hailed the resilience and edge of his side after they brushed aside a red card and a barrage of frustration to dismantle Rotherham 3-0 away from home.
But Barry-Murphy also had sharp words for the standard of refereeing in League One.
Cardiff’s win, secured despite skipper Ryan Wintle being sent off after just 21 minutes, kept them top of the table and stretched their unbeaten run to 10 matches.
Yet Barry-Murphy emerged from the New York Stadium as angry as he was impressed, questioning both the key decisions in the match and what he sees as a broader decline in officiating standards across the division.
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“The refereeing performances this season are getting gradually worse. It's been really poor,” Barry-Murphy told BBC Sport Wales.
“We're the only Welsh team in this league and at some stage our players need to be protected [but] they're not being protected.”
Wintle was dismissed for bringing down the goal-bound Harry Gray, a decision Barry-Murphy felt the referee, Seb Stockbridge, was too eager to make.
His frustration was compounded by an earlier incident involving substitute Isaak Davies.
“Ryan makes contact and there wasn't much cover but he [Stockbridge] couldn't wait to send him off,” he said.
“Isaak Davies received a sickening blow to the head off the ball and it wasn't seen.”
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Barry-Murphy also revealed his growing disillusionment with Professional Game Match Official Limited (PGMOL), claiming previous complaints had been met with little more than stock replies.
“Our staff put a lot of effort into sending those reports but from now on there's no point,” he said.
“There's no acknowledgement of what we're saying, it's just ignored. We get a reply but the reply is always in agreement with what's happened. It's not good enough.
“We're not going to waste our time on it, we're going to focus on what we're doing for Cardiff city and try to give our supporters and players the protection they need.”
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While the post-match narrative was dominated by officiating, the performance itself underlined why Cardiff sit at the summit of League One.
Reduced to 10 men early on, the Bluebirds refused to retreat and instead tightened their grip on the contest, playing with control, aggression and clarity.
“I was very pleased with the players’ mentality and how they played the game,” Barry-Murphy said.
“When Ryan was sent off we had to show clear signs of the team we want to be and I am really grateful that the players did that for us.
“We focused on ourselves but today, from the first minute, I had a good feeling with the team.
“We looked really like ourselves and I was very confident at all stages.
“I was really pleased with the character and mentality of the team.
“To score the goals and create the chances that we did is testament to the players and the work they are doing.”
That confidence was borne out on the pitch.
Ollie Tanner was the chief architect, providing two assists that broke Rotherham’s resistance either side of half-time.
His first cut-back found Omari Kellyman, who guided a composed finish beyond Cameron Dawson.
After the interval, Tanner again found space to deliver, this time teeing up Chris Willock to double the lead with time to spare.
Isaak Davies, the forward Barry-Murphy felt had earlier been unprotected, had the final say in stoppage time, bursting clear on the counter-attack and driving a powerful finish past Dawson to seal an emphatic victory.
Barry-Murphy stressed that the result was less about sending a warning to promotion rivals and more about internal standards, particularly after a performance he felt fell short the previous week.
“I think it’s a very important message to ourselves,” he said.
“We weren’t pleased with how we played at Burton last week and we wanted to better that.”
At the other end, Rotherham’s afternoon unravelled after failing to capitalise on their numerical advantage.
Manager Matt Hamshaw admitted his side never rose to the occasion and paid the price against a team he believes are the division’s benchmark.
“Cardiff are a good team and play some good football,” Hamshaw said.
“I thought when they went to 10 men it was an opportunity for us but we played into their hands.
“I just felt we got too complacent as a group and I reiterated that at half time and we didn’t get much better.
“We can’t have Jekyll and Hyde performances.
“The battling qualities we had last week weren’t there this week.
“All in all, everybody performed miles below the standard we have had and that is a frustration.
“I think Cardiff are the best team in the league and will get promoted.
“They stopped us doing anything but we underperformed. I didn’t see that coming.”
