Winter wonderland

Marske United's FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round hero Craig Winter is hoping he can emulate his father and make it to The FA Cup Final.

Craig, 23, is the son of former Premiership referee Jeff Winter, who took charge of Manchester United's winning Final against Millwall in 2004.

Winter Jnr was signed from the Northern League Division One side Northallerton Town in the summer. And he is hoping Marske can build on their Cup success so far and progress through to the next round with a home win over Brigg Town this weekend.

To achieve that, Winter will have to continue his man of the match form from the last round, when Marske beat local rivals Whickham.

And Winter hopes that he can progress as far as possible in the game and dreams of one day pulling on the red shirt of his beloved Middlesbrough.

He said: "Like my dad I am a massive Boro fan and it would be amazing to play for them one day. But at the moment I am concentrating on getting Marske through the next round of the Cup.

"We know Brigg Town will be a difficult game but we are on a decent run at the moment and we will have the advantage of the home crowd behind us."

Local north east radio station TFM will cover the FA Cup tie for their Soccer Saturday show with Craig's father presenting. Jeff has embarked on a career in the media since retiring as a referee.

But Craig does not feel the pressure of having a famous father in the game and admits he never once considered following his footsteps into refereeing.

He said: "I am the opposite to my dad, I shout at referees the whole time. I always wanted to be a footballer and never considered becoming a referee.

"I don't feel any pressure from my dad. I know he has strong links with the Cup, but I am just trying to concentrate on my own game and do as well as I can for this club."