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Brian Barry-Murphy's Cardiff beat Rotherham despite a first-half red card for Ryan Wintle Cardiff boss Brian Barry-Murphy said refereeing in League One is "getting gradually worse" following his side's 10-man victory over Rotherham on Saturday. Bluebirds captain Ryan Wintle was shown a red card on 21 minutes but his team-mates rallied to secure a 3-0 away victory to remain top of the table. Barry-Murphy not only criticised match referee Seb Stockbridge but the general standard across the division, even hinting it could be linked to Cardiff City being the only Welsh team in League One. "The refereeing performances this season are getting gradually worse. It's been really poor, " the head coach 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. " Barry-Murphy was unhappy yesterday with Wintle's dismissal as well as a challenge on Cardiff forward Isaak Davies that went unpunished. "Ryan makes contact and there wasn't much cover but he [Stockbridge] couldn't wait to send him off, " he added. "Isaak Davies received a sickening blow to the head off the ball and it wasn't seen. " 'Relegation a blessing' but issues remain - Cardiff's reset Latest Cardiff City news, analysis and fan views Listen to the latest Cardiff City interviews and news Cardiff's head coach also bemoaned a lack of response from Professional Game Match Official Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for refereeing games in English professional association football, to previous complaints. Barry-Murphy described the replies as "vanilla" and added: "Our staff put a lot of effort into sending those reports but from now on there's no point. "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. " Victory at Rotherham extended the Bluebirds' 10-game unbeaten run to remain two points clear of Lincoln City. "From the first minute we were intent on playing our game and continued to do that after Ryan was sent off, " said Barry-Murphy. "I was confident we would win but the big thing for me was the mentality the players had to show and they didn't let anyone down. "We didn't want to take a step back. We want to be as aggressive as we can in every moment of every game in this league. It was a really special day for us. " Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Premier League: Man City fight back to beat Liverpool as Szoboszlai sent off in dramatic finish Winter Olympics: GB's Brookes & Hill in snowboarding qualification - watch An almighty scare - but are England learning? Eddie takes up ski jumping to try and become an Olympian The Six Nations is shaken by France’s opening statement Lord Sugar's hopefuls jet off to Hong Kong John Le Carré’s son discusses what's next for The Night Manager England survive scare to beat Nepal in World Cup thriller. Video England survive scare to beat Nepal in World Cup thriller 'The shirt used to weigh heavy - now England players double in size in it' 'Townsend on the ropes after romp in swamp' Vonn crashes out of Winter Olympics downhill. Video Vonn crashes out of Winter Olympics downhill England make flying start with convincing win over poor Wales. Video England make flying start with convincing win over poor Wales GB's medal hope Brookes starts campaign - Sunday's Winter Olympics guide 'What a moment! ' - Shepherd takes four wickets in one over. Video'What a moment! ' - Shepherd takes four wickets in one over Seahawks or Patriots? Expert Super Bowl 60 predictions and make your pick How penis injections became a Winter Olympic talking point Top run-scorer, wicket-taker and champion - T20 World Cup predictions A 'special' snooker player who became a TV star - John Virgo obituary In Pictures: Sporting photos of the week Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.