 Ashington joined Torquay United as a trainee and due to almost the entire midfield being out injured, manager Wes Saunders was forced to throw him into the first-team well before he would have liked.In the end Ashington was named man of the match on his league debut at home to Southend United on 19 August 2000, making a further 13 league appearances by the end of the season, all before his 18th birthday.He signed a one-year professional contract in May 2001, but had yet to feature under new manager Roy McFarland, before sustaining an injury that forced him out for most of the 2001–02 season.