The second was surely a incredibly poor executed set piece routine. He should have hit it first time or played it back into the box. Instead he dithered about allowing the Raith players to chase him down and the breakaway ended up being 5 against 3.
I think Ashford is solely there to chase down and put defenders under pressure, trying to win the ball back and keep it in there half. Important, but not sure that's enough to warrant a starting place.