After a 3-0 defeat to Bradford at Valley Parade on Tuesday night, where Tyler Smith scored a first-half hat-trick, City’s youngsters were unable to progress into the knockout stages.
The result followed a penalty shootout victory over Grimsby and a loss to League One promotion challengers Barnsley in Group F meaning we finished third in the table.
Although disappointed we could advance into the Round of 32, Barry-Murphy explained how our EDS’ players will have been exposed to unique challenges in the competition which will aid their development.
“It’s hard for the young players to process that they can have so many good moments in the game and lose 3-0,” he said.
“I managed Tyler Smith when he was at Rochdale and the significant learning, for our centre-backs in particular, was that he’s watching the game and waiting for one more [chance] where he can impact the scoreline.
“We don’t see that at PL2 level so that experience for them will be invaluable.”
Despite entering half-time 3-0 down at Bradford, City’s EDS delivered an impressive, attacking performance after the interval as we looked to spark a comeback.
Unfortunately the goals we craved evaded us, but Barry-Murphy was proud of our second-half display.
He added: “Based on what we’ve seen in this competition, a lot of Under-21 teams have lost heavily so we almost have to show our players a way of chasing a game.
“We were patient but we created numerous chances to score and we just couldn’t find the goal.
“I was impressed with how we handled that emotionally because I think at half-time the players were shocked with the scoreline which is very normal.
“But our reaction in the second half was fine. I really enjoyed that.”
