The following season, 1972–73, the club had their best ever non-league knock-out cup run when they reached the semi-final of the FA Trophy – just one match from a Wembley final. Alas the dream was not to be: in a match played on neutral turf at Peterborough they lost 1–0 to a disputed second half penalty to Northern Premier League Scarborough (who would themselves go on to win the trophy). Ironically for a club so linked to the railways, supporters travelling on a special train arrived 15 minutes after the kick-off following a delay en route. On the league front Ashford finished third in the 1972–73 Southern League Division One South, one place below the promotion places. Alan Morton set a club record scoring 46 goals in 69 games, which stood for 42 years until broken in the 2014–15 season.