The 30-year-old kicked a goal after the siren to draw the game, but admitted he and the Lions were lucky to come away with two points.
“(Dustin) Fletcher had the better of me all day and I was just lucky to get that one at the end,” he said.
“It was good to get the draw but we didn’t play very well on the day and that was the most disappointing thing.
“It’s a bit of an empty feeling.”
Bradshaw was restricted to two final-quarter goals on the night and skipper Jonathan Brown kicked 0.5 in a rare wayward night in front of goal.
The Lions’ full-forward said he knew the siren had gone after marking in front a desperate Fletcher and admitted relief it was in the goal square.
He said right from the opening minutes he knew his side faced a battle against an Essendon side fighting for its finals chance.
“We didn’t really turn up tonight,” he said.
“Essendon’s probably thinking it’s the one that got away and we’re probably lucky to get two points in the end.
“We we’re a bit lazy with our set ups and it’s something we need to work on this week when we play the Doggies.”
The draw lifts the Lions into fifth place and eyes on a top-four berth with home games against the Bulldogs and Port Adelaide to come. The Lions round out their season against the Swans at the SCG.
After missing the previous two weeks with a hamstring injury, the duel premiership player said he would be better for the run, adding the side’s first priority is to get its 12th win and guarantee a finals place.
“We want to win that one more game to make sure we get to 12 wins because we’ve got a tough run home,” he said.
