In what was an entertaining match at the Joie Stadium on Friday night, the hosts took the lead when Jacob Wright sealed his first goal of the season with a venomous, curled effort from distance in the first half.
However, the Londoners equalised soon after – and with the match finely poised in the second half – the visitors snatched three points when Josh Brooking drove into the box and fired past a helpless True Grant on the cusp of full-time.
Regardless of the cruel loss, Barry-Murphy believes there’s plenty for his team to be positive about.
“I think it’s very disappointing for the players when we concede so late in such a competitive game,” he explained.
“But there were lots of things I saw from our players that are exactly what I’d expect to see further down the line. What I mean by that is that the progress they’ve made in such a short space of time is incredible.
“Tonight, we just weren’t able to convert our chances and we met an opponent who was very, very strong.For the first period up until we scored and after, our play was exceptional and high quality stuff.
“Chelsea came into the game and scored a goal really from nothing and that could have changed the overall view of the first half but it didn’t for me because I thought we were very, very good.
“In the second half, the game became high quality football and it became an equal contest.
“It could have been anyone’s and we finished the game in the manner we want – we pushed until the end, created multiple chances against a good team and we just couldn’t take them.”
Watch Barry-Murphy’s full post-match interview in the video player above.
