BOSS Matt Ford insisted Chris Harris had been set for a Pirates return in 2019 – until his average threw a spanner in the works.

Harris proved the catalyst for Pirates’ 70th anniversary title triumph after joining in July and had hoped to extend his stay at Wimborne Road.

But having been unveiled by SGB Premiership new boys Peterborough earlier this week, Bomber wrote on Twitter: “I was not part of Poole’s team plans.”

Reacting to Harris’s statement, Ford told the Daily Echo: “It’s not entirely accurate because Chris was in my plans.

“After the season ended, the final set of green sheets we had from the BSPA showed Chris’s average being just above seven.

“But sadly it rose by in excess of half a point because they then expunged the Rye House figures.

“That put my thoughts in jeopardy because I would have had to make more than one change.

“And I felt that in terms of a number one, I was already verbally committed to someone else.

“It is sad because Chris did a fantastic job, not least beating Jason Doyle to get us to the final.”