Hugh Reilly: So it's no break for me – and it's no break for them

MY CURRENT holidays started with a bang, or rather a thud, when my toned, 15-stone frame crashed to the floor following a shocking tackle by a five-a-side "mate". A trip to casualty confirmed my worst fears; there was no fracture in my shoulder, just muscle damage, therefore I would have to return to school after the Easter break.

The pain was such that I honestly believed nothing could make me feel any worse, but a visit to my ailing mother soon cured me of that thought. Her voice rendered virtually inaudible by a severe chest infection (a plus point), the old bat coughed up ...