With the takeover of the club ownership by Tim Thorogood in 2001 he assumed team management. The team reached the semi-final of the Kent Senior Cup where they were on the wrong end of a heavy 5–0 defeat at Football Conference club Margate. There followed a period of relative stability with the 'nuts and bolts' recording mid table finishes for the final few years in the Division 1 Eastern of the Southern League: 2003–2004 marked Ashford's last as a Southern League club after 44 years under their umbrella – there was more reorganisation afoot of the non-league scene.