Brian Barry-Murphy hailed Cardiff’s late 1-0 victory at promotion rivals Stevenage as a “rewarding” one.
Callum Robinson hit a wonderful 85th-minute winner, volleyed in from the edge of the box, to send the Bluebirds four points clear at the top of League One and seven ahead of their opponents.
And a fourth successive league win put a smile of the face of the Cardiff boss.
“It’s a very rewarding victory because we know how good Stevenage are and how effective they are in their stadium,” said Barry-Murphy.
“The stats of how many goals they have conceded at home were quite intimidating to look at, how difficult it is to actually get a result here.
“It was a big test for us and one we had to show how much we’ve improved from previous ones this season, when we’ve gone away to certain grounds and struggled.
“So it was really satisfying performance from the players and the clean sheet was significant for us.”
He thanked the supporters for their noise, most having struggled to battle across from South Wales due to adverse weather, especially at the Severn Bridge, with the delays leading to the game kicking off late.
And he had praise too for the matchwinner, who had come off the bench four minutes beforehand as part of a triple change.
The Cardiff boss said: “Callum hasn’t played (as much as he would have wanted) this season and I haven’t given him enough games.
“But when the ball fell to him at that end of the pitch, it was so clear that he was going to find the right finish at the right moment.
“His quality is undoubted and it was such a fitting moment for him.”
Stevenage boss Alex Revell was also looking at the positives of his side’s performance, even through the painful and frustrating sting of defeat.
He said: “We’re so disappointed that we’ve lost the game but the one thing I’ll say is Cardiff are a good side.
“The quality they bring on to the pitch (with the triple substitution) to win a game of football shows the quality goes throughout the squad.
“But we worked so hard and the effort the players put in to work as a group and to defend, I can never fault that.
“We need to do more going forward, we do, there’s no two ways about it, but first and foremost, we work as a team and I couldn’t fault the players.
“The goal was real quality in terms of the strike but I watched our group and they are playing so hard for the badge that you can walk away as a manager and think, we can do better and we can learn, but the commitment was first class.”
