Brian Barry-Murphy ‘over the moon’ as League One leaders Cardiff beat Barnsley

Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy said he was “over the moon” at his side’s 4-0 win over Barnsley that keeps them riding high at the top of League One.

The Bluebirds remain four points clear of nearest challengers Lincoln and 10 clear of third-placed Bolton and Stockport in fourth.

Their 12th win in 15 home games – allied to a 10th clean sheet in the league this season – came thanks two goals from Chris Willock and others from Perry Ng and Omari Kellyman.

“I’m over the moon with the result and the performance, because we did a lot of work on Barnsley and prepared in a very detailed manner. The players understood how big the challenge was and were very pleased to get the victory,” said Barry-Murphy.

With top scorer Yousef Salech ruled out after his neck injury sustained last weekend, Barry-Murphy thrust Chelsea loanee Kellyman up front and was delighted to see him pick up a goal and an assist.

“I’ve seen him play as a centre-forward many times before when he was younger, so I was very confident that he could do the job. I just felt as if it was the right solution for this game,” said Barry-Murphy.

“I can see him very much as a centre-forward and I was very pleased with his performance.

“I was also very pleased with the performances of Callum Robinson and Isaac Davies when they came on. All those players are hungry to play and giving me a lot of food for thought in the absence of Yousef.

“There are really strong teams that are in great form in the top half of the table, but we’re in good form ourselves.

“I’m very pleased with the players’ efforts and the constant obsession of striving for improved performances is at the very front of our minds.”

While the scoreline told one side of the story of the night, things could have been different for Barnsley had referee Lee Swabey given a second yellow card to Cardiff midfielder Alex Robertson in the first half and then awarded a penalty early in the second when Willock clashed with Corey O’Keefe in the box.

“The referee said he felt it was a big distance away from goal for Robertson’s second foul, but my observation to him was that it was a blatant foul that stopped a decent transition moment,” said Barnsley boss Conor Hourihane.

“They had six or seven bodies in the box and only three of four behind the ball. That was a big moment.

“If they’d gone down to 10 men when we were only 1-0 down the tide might have turned. The second yellow could have been given and then they made the substitution at half-time because they thought they’d been lucky.

“The penalty shout was another moment that went against us – we felt there was contact. The two big decisions didn’t go for us but we still have to realise that a far superior team beat us tonight.

“All in all, it was bit of a humbling night for everyone and we need to realise where we are in the league and what they are bringing to the table compared to us. We are at two completely different scales.”