MAN of the moment Chris Harris starred on his home debut for Pirates – weeks after coming close to hanging up his race suit.

Bomber recovered from a scoreless opening ride to post a terrific 11 paid 12 in the 58-32 thrashing of Leicester at Wimborne Road on Wednesday.

Two days earlier, the 35-year-old had contributed nine points as Poole took a precious losing point at King’s Lynn.

Harris, who doubles up with Glasgow in the SGB Championship, revealed he had mulled over quitting the shale sport following the demise of previous Premiership employers Rye House at the start of this month.

The three-time British individual champion, who replaced Linus Sundstrom in the Poole septet, said: “It’s always sad to see a club fold.

“The move to Poole came at the right time because I was talking to my family and we were looking at maybe hanging up the suit.

“Riding just for Glasgow is not enough to pay the mortgage and the bills.

“I kept pestering Matt Ford and it was lucky for me that a rider decided to step down and that I could be fitted in.

“I’m glad to be here. It’s been a long time coming. Matt says every year that he wants me!

“It started pretty rubbish against Leicester but I came in and made a few changes.

“I made changes all night and it got better and better. I actually finished on the set-up I would normally start on, so next time I think I will start on that.”

Poole team boss Neil Middleditch is optimistic the signing of Harris can have a similar effect to when American legend Greg Hancock joined the club in 2013.

Hancock’s arrival proved the catalyst for Pirates finishing fourth in the Elite League, before seeing off Swindon and then Birmingham to win the crown.

Asked if Harris could be the missing piece of the jigsaw, Middleditch said: “Hopefully. It happened a few years ago with a guy called Greg Hancock.

“The year we signed him, no one expected us to get in the play-offs and we crept into fourth place and went on to win it.

“We have struggled a bit this season but, hopefully, Bomber is the final ingredient to get us to the play-offs.”

Addressing the former Coventry star directly, Middleditch joked: “I don’t want to put too much weight on your shoulders but if you don’t do it, you’re sacked!”

Pirates number one Brady Kurtz, who racked up a brilliant 12 paid 14 haul against the Lions, is also pleased to have Harris on board.

Kurtz said: “I’m so grateful for Bomber to be here. He is someone who can come out in the big races and we can rely on him to win, rather than just me.

“I’m really looking forward to the rest of the year and I think we’ve got something better now.

“It was so good to see all the boys have a good night against Leicester and I’m stoked we had such a good turnout.”