In what was the club’s first ever fixture in the Women’s Super League 2, a goal from Beth Lumsden and an own goal from Georgia Marshall gave the Magpies a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes, which was enough to seal all three points.
But after making history by getting to the second tier, McNamara was full of praise for his team.
“We knew today was going to be a learning experience,” he said.
“They’re a top side. I don’t think they’d be out of place in WSL with the players they’ve got, the way they move the ball, and I also don’t think that’ll be the worst goal line that you see here this season.
“I thought they were excellent. But on the flip side of that, I also thought we showed real heart and real character.
“For our first outing in WSL2, a lot of the team never experienced this level or have been out of the level for a long time.
“So, I thought they showed some real good fight and character and what we want to see is that we can work on the other bits, the bits that cost us the two goals, the transitional moments that we know are so key at this level. We can work on them.”
He added: “Today was about testing ourselves at that WSL2 level, getting this historic day out of the way, if you like, because yes, it’s been good.
“Yes, it’s been emotional, but ultimately we get on the coach with no points. So, we’ve got to make sure we put that right quickly.
“It’s a scoreline that is not to be too disheartened by and as I said, look, if we’d have come here and sat in front of the goal and not got out of our half, which in moments we did, but we still threatened their goal at times.”